


Roxas And Namine's Excellent Adventure

by Bloodyevoker



Series: A journey with no destination. [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Au Ra Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Dark Knight Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Gen, General scions tag rather than tagging all of them, Implied Miles/Gwen, Minor Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Mutual Pining, Naminé knows exactly how she feels, Not KH3 Compliant, Patch 5.2: Echoes of a Fallen Star Spoilers, Roxas on the other hand does not., Slow burn because Roxas is a dense idiot, Takes place before FFXIV patch 5.3 (Duh), fuck DiZ all my homies hate diz, in fact just toss most of it out the window, not canon to my other series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25048243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloodyevoker/pseuds/Bloodyevoker
Summary: Roxas and Naminé are sent on a journey togethershenanigans ensueUpdates Weekly/when theyre finished, Characters and worlds tagged as they appear
Relationships: Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Xion/happiness
Series: A journey with no destination. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814977
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue: Yen Sid's tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Namine are sent on a journey together.

Roxas and Naminé were not exactly a common pair sent out on missions. In fact, usually the two kind of avoided each other. Roxas didn’t hate Naminé. Quite the opposite actually. He felt like if they just talked it out they’d actually be good friends. It seemed Yen Sid agreed with that idea, since early one morning he called them both to his chamber. 

“Roxas and Naminé. I called the two of you here today to discuss your next training exercise. While you, Roxas, are talented in keyblade combat. You are far too unused to working in a group. Naminé on the other hand has only just been able to summon her keyblade. I placed you together so you could learn to work as a unit. If we are to match our 7 lights with Xenhanort’s 13 darknesses then we must ensure we have enough lights to make up for whatever plans he has”

“Pardon me if this is a dumb question, master, but why the fuck are we playing by his rules?” Roxas asked bluntly, then after being met with stares from the other two in the room, he clarified “Xenhanort wants us to bring 7 lights so he can form the χ-blade, right? Well why the hell should we let him make us do that? He’s only gonna have 13 of himself so why shouldn’t we bring like, 30 people?” he finished.

Yen Sid was silent for a while, trying to think of how to answer it. Roxas did have a point, in a way, but something about his solution didn’t feel fair. Not that being far was even a valid point. Xenhanort was trying to destroy the worlds, he couldn’t afford to play fair.

“That is a fair point, Young Roxas. All the more reason for the two of you to train up so we can grow closer to the 30 people you wish to gather against him.” The wording would indicate he was being sarcastic, but he was completely serious.

Roxas sighed, conceding to the older man’s point. “Well, as long as Naminé is fine with it, I’m fine with whatever. It’ll be way more exciting than just sitting around here doing nothing.” he said, turning to Naminé. She had kept quiet the whole conversation, but when the attention was brought to her, she nodded.

“I’m fine with that. It’ll be fun. Roxas and I haven’t talked much since before Sora woke up, and that’s not fair to either of us, especially since Sora has been trying to get us to hang out since we returned.” She said, a small smile appearing on her face.

“Is that why he was dressed like a waiter pushing one of those food carts with Riku hiding in it?”

“...He what?”

“Like, a week ago, Sora told me he needed me to come to the dining room and I sat there for like 30 minutes watching Kairi trying to to play a violin, then Sora came in with a waiter cart shouting “I can’t find Naminé!” 

As Roxas began to go into detail of Sora’s...interesting plan to get Roxas and Naminé to talk which was sounding more and more like an odd date setup the longer the story went on, Yen Sid sighed and rubbed his temples. He was getting too old for this.

“As...interesting as this story is, Roxas, Naminé, you two should prepare to leave. You depart tomorrow. Your gummi ship has already been set up with the world coordinates of several destinations, so you won’t need to pilot it much.”

With a nod, the two blondes left Yen Sid’s chamber and went their separate ways, preparing for their journey. Roxas made sure he had plenty of munny to spend if they ran into a Moogle shop, and Naminé packed her art supplies. By the time they were ready to leave, it was well into the night.

In the morning, the two of them stepped into the Gummi ship and waved goodbye to their friends. Yen Sid neglected to say how long the training exercise would last, but he did give them two pieces of advice: to try and not to disturb the world order, and to let their hearts be their guiding key. That second piece wasn’t exactly advice, but it was all they were going to get.

Roxas sat back in his seat as they took off. Originally, he’d offered to drive, but after he mentioned that he’d never driven before, she’d volunteered instead, since she had at least driven more than him. Luckily, the ship was heading automatically toward their first destination, so all she needed to do was dodge obstacles while Roxas aimed and shot the occasional Heartless piloted ship (or were the ships the Heartless?). He had surprisingly good hand eye coordination, and Namine found herself sneaking the occasional glance toward him to admire just how hard he was concentrating

These glances stopped when she nearly rammed their ship into an asteroid and didn’t happen again for the rest of the trip, much to her disappointment. Not that she’d admit that she was staring at him, She’d known him for less than a year total at this point and part of that time was spent trying to manipulate him into killing himself because she herself was manipulated. 

God, DiZ was a piece of shit

After about an hour of navigating Gummi space, they approached their destination, a completely spherical planet that appeared to have multiple different environments, although with the way their ship was pointed, they were heading toward a desert. It was then that the controls locked up, the screen going black. Suddenly, an orchestral track started playing and text began to scroll up the screen  


A long time ago in a Galaxy Far far away…

The Galactic empire seeks to snuff out the rebel force hiding on the Planet Lothal. Ezra Bridger, a young, force sensitive boy has joined up with them in order to train himself in the ways of the Jedi.

However, something far darker than even a sith lord lurks on the horizon. Master Xenhanort, in an attempt to find a powerful ally for himself, has unleashed heartless onto the planet

Stranded on the planet and surrounded by heartless, the rebels are about to meet two young teenagers who carry the ability to turn the tide of battle in their hands… 

  
“Well, this just seems like a weird way of providing exposition” Roxas joked, getting quickly shushed by his companion, who it seemed was actually paying attention

Once the text crawl ended, the screen turned on, once more showing their destination. With nothing else to do, Naminé landed on the planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry for the Star Wars bit. 
> 
> This world in particular is based on the star wars cartoon "Star Wars: Rebels", which takes place between episodes 3 and 4.


	2. A Galaxy Far far away...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Naminé's journey begins, as all good journeys do
> 
> With a bang.
> 
> Literally

“So, We’ll be able to breathe when we get off the ship, right?” Roxas asked. He’d been watching sci fi movies a week earlier, so the concept of foreign planets not having breathable air was one he didn’t want to entertain.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, Roxas. The glamour magic that changed Sora’s shape depending on the world should make sure we don’t suffocate” Naminé said as the doors opened.

The moment they stepped off the ship, they heard the loading of guns. Several figures clad in white armor with black accents were pointing their weapons at them. 

“What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?” Roxas asked, trying to play it cool. As much as he’d have liked to summon his keyblades and start swinging, he figured Naminé would be upset if he didn’t at least try diplomacy

“This is a no landing zone. Please step away from the ship and provide your identification.” came the reply. Before either of them could move to do so, the figures were suddenly shot from afar and a tall, furry, striped man grabbed them and bolted off. 

“Uh, what the hell is going on?” Roxas asked, but before he could get an answer, the man carrying them was tackled, only this time it was something he was familiar with. A Heartless had tackled him, in particular it was a Large body. Roxas and Naminé were tossed aside as their rescuer/captor gave the large body a series of punches that, were it anything else, would surely be painful. Unfortunately, he was punching the front of the heartless

“You do know their weak point is the back, right?” Roxas called out, but as he said that, several more Heartless showed up. Cracking his knuckles, he thrust his wrists outward, Oathkeeper and Oblivion manifesting in his hands. Naminé summoned her own keyblade, Memory’s Embrace, and the two of them made quick work of the Heartless attacking them, then took out the large body. Once the situation had calmed down, their captor spoke again

“You’re telling me that this whole time I coulda hit 'em in the back and saved us all the pain of getting knocked on our asses?” He muttered to himself loud enough to hear

“Well usually when something doesn’t work you don’t just do the thing that doesn’t work over and over, uhhh...whatever your name is” Roxas said

“Well, my captain was insistent that we save the introductions for once you two were safe, but since it’s clear you can handle yourselves, you can call me Zeb so you can get my attention at least'' He responded, then pulled out a small communication device and went to call someone

“So Zeb, why the hell did you kidnap me and my friend, exactly” Naminé asked nervously. Unlike Roxas, who had by this point disapperated his keyblades, Memory’s Embrace was still in her hand, her grip only getting tighter the longer Zeb’s chat went on.

“Well, those monsters that showed up earlier have been attacking our ship, keeping us on the planet. Ezra, you’ll prolly meet him soon, had a vision that two blond strangers in an odd colored ship’d help us. Personally, I thought he was full of it, but then we saw your ship land, and then I saw a buncha bucketheads rushing to arrest you. I still didn’t think you were anything special. Until you started swinging around giant keys, that is” Zeb explained, but before Naminé could correct him, more “bucketheads” approached them.

This time however, they were saved by a boy around Roxas’s age. He pushed his hand outward and as if by an invisible force, repelled their attackers, then he turned to Zeb “That’s them, lets go, everyone is waiting” Zeb nodded and once more picked Roxas and Naminé up and followed the boy, who Roxas assumed was Ezra.

After a while of running, they reached a fairly large ship which was covered in Heartless. Zeb set the blondes down and pulled out his weapon, which appeared to be a cross between a bo staff and a rifle. Ezra pulled something off his belt, pressed a button on it and suddenly he was holding what looked like a laser sword. After a brief, silent nod to one another, Zeb and Ezra charged into the fray, their weapons proving more useful against heartless than Roxas would have thought they did

Not to be outdone, Roxas summoned his keyblades, turning to Naminé. She gave him a confidant nod, and leaped into the fray, calling down a thundara, striking several heartless around her. Roxas began to follow suit, when suddenly, a figure came out of nowhere, swinging a keyblade at him. The weapon was black and red, with two creepy looking eyes on it. He brought his own keyblades up to parry and got a good look at his attacker. They were wearing a black helmet to hide their face, and their outfit slightly reminded him of the weird darkness skirt Riku used to have.

“Oh goody, a warm welcome from the darkness brigade” Roxas muttered in frustration. Every time he attempted to go on the offensive, the figure beat him back. Despite holding his keyblade like Riku did, his opponent fought nothing like him, instead choosing to fly around like an asshole and spam darkness infused ice spells at him. Roxas retaliated with fire spells, but his spell output was far less than his opponent’s. Occasionally, when he did land a hit, the asshole teleported away, leaving an illusion of himself behind as well as leaving Roxas wide open to combos Eventually, Roxas got knocked down and his keyblades were flung away. The masked figure raised his weapon to finish the job.

Then Naminé hit the guy in the back of the head, knocking him onto his face, kicking away his keyblade, she pointed hers forward toward him “You really should have been paying attention to the whole battlefield, dumbass. Sleepza” she said as a wave emerged from her keyblade and hit him dead on, making him fall asleep

The last (and only words) they heard from the masked man were “Ugh...you bit-” before he lost consciousness. Once she was sure he was out cold, she helped Roxas up, then the two of them, with help from Ezra and the rest of the crew, tied him to a rock, then got in the ship and flew far enough away that they could relax, if just a little.

Once they were safe, Roxas pulled Naminé Aside. “Hey, I just wanted to thank you for earlier. You totally bailed my ass out” Naminé’s cheeks went pink and she shook her head

“The rest of them were going to try and help, I just got to you first” It wasn't a total lie, but brushing her accomplishment off made her feel a little better about the fact that just his showing thanks was making her heart beat just a little faster. Of course, Roxas barely noticed her blush. She’d’ve been frustrated, but she was certain, from the stories that Lea had told her, that he literally didn’t know what love was. Fair enough, she herself barely understood it, only put two and two together by comparing how Kairi felt about Sora and Riku to how she herself felt about Roxas. She’d give it time. They were alone on this trip after all.

Roxas noticed something was up, but before he could say anything, he heard the voice of the pilot (Hera, he thought her name was?) telling them they were going to land by the Gummi ship so the two could leave. The heartless problem seemed to have stopped when they beat the masked man, who they later spotted leaving via a dark corridor. Of course, Hera and her crew didn’t understand what a dark corridor was, but didn’t ask further when Roxas replied simply with “He ran away”

Once they’d landed and Roxas and Naminé had stepped out, they were stopped by Ezra and his master. First, the Master, Kanan spoke “I had heard tales of the keyblade wielders, but I assumed they were all wiped out by Order 66 like the Jedi. It’s nice to see there’s still some of you around.” he said, holding a hand out for them to shake

"Likewise" Roxas nodded and shook Kanan’s hand, followed by Naminé.

“May your heart be your guiding key, Ezra. If you see that masked guy again, don’t hesitate to go for a low blow” Roxas called out, stepping into the Gummi Ship

“May the force be with you, Roxas, Naminé” Ezra called out as Naminé once more took the wheel of the ship, flying it out of the world. As she did so, the ship’s navigation system picked up a new target and started heading toward it.

Meanwhile

Vanitas limped out of the dark corridor he’d made to escape. He almost had that idiot that looked like Ventus, but then the stupid witch just had to interfere. He would’ve returned to get revenge, but shook his head. They’d get what was coming to them soon enough. They were heading to _that_ world next, and Master Xehanort sent someone far more threatening than him to scout ahead.

**Obtained Keychain: Rebel Scum**

**Obtained Keychain: A new Hope**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't finished rebels but these events happen around season 1/early season 2
> 
> The Vanitas fight is based off me skimming one of the boss fights from Birth by Sleep and going "I can make this work"
> 
> Next week: Roxas and Namine take a leap of faith.


	3. What's up Danger?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Naminé attend an academy and meet at least one spiderman.
> 
> Then they encounter an unfortunately familiar face.

Thankfully, their arrival on the second world wasn’t as hostile as the first. It was jarringly the opposite, actually. As they disembarked, and started walking to get a better look at their surroundings, people waved to them and gave them congratulatory remarks. It was then when Naminé noticed their clothing. They were wearing matching uniforms, with the logo of what appeared to be a school on them. She wasn’t sure what exactly the school was, but if they were getting congratulated then surely it was prestigious.

“I think these are...school uniforms?” Naminé remarked, to which Roxas nodded. They kept walking until they passed a sign that said “Visions Academy”, which Naminé interpreted as meaning they were close to where they needed to be. As they stepped inside the building, a boy their age ran past. Then, as if their presence set off some sort of alarm, he turned to the two of them, but before he could say anything, the bell rang. Going with the flow of people, they found themselves in a classroom, one that conveniently had seats for them. They sat down, and nobody paid them much attention, and then, luckily, the two of them were paired together for some sort of group activity. This gave them ample time to discuss the glaring problem of neither of them having actually been to school

“So, remind me why we decided to go to school, Naminé? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but neither of us have an education. DiZ was so much of a lazy shit that he didn’t even program any specific school memories in the prison-i mean virtual Twilight town, and he kept you locked up like a damn fairy tale. Or I guess just a world with a princess-know what? I have lost track of this metaphor” Roxas finished his trainwreck of a thought with a facepalm. Usually he’d be far more eloquent than this, he was really off his game today.

“Don’t worry about it, I got the gist, I think. Now, c’mon, let’s work on this project. It can’t be that bad if we work together, right?” Naminé responded, then turned her attention to their work. It wasn’t a totally undoable project, but she would not have minded if there was a heartless attack to interrupt the class

Several hours later, not minding turned into wishing, which then turned into desperately hoping. She was beginning to see why the Twilight Town gang (or at least the virtual one) disliked school. Just about the only thing she didn’t mind was the attention to how her and Roxas barely separated. It made her feel like a normal girl, at least for a while. Of course, it was now that life decided to not only throw lemons at her, but also burn down her house while it was at it.

As she and Roxas were eating lunch, a very familiar scythe made its way through the window. Naminé almost froze in fear, but shook her head. She was stronger, now. If that asshole was going to interrupt her almost-nice moment with Roxas, she was going to take her keyblade and shave his stupid, probably dyed pink hair, and, exclusively because she knew it’d bother him, she’d do it unevenly.  
Thankfully, while Naminé was in her own head having a revenge fantasy, Roxas sprung into action and parried the next attack. Normally, he’d be taking a much more aggressive approach, but considering what their attacker did to Naminé, she deserved this win

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make it a little easier for her, obviously. She was his friend, if hanging out with Sora taught him anything aside from proper hair gel quantity, it was that friendship was super valuable. He already knew that, but Sora just loved to talk about how his friends were his power. Although, something about that line seemed somehow unoriginal.

Naminé pulled herself out of her own mind and summoned her keyblade, running toward Marluxia. If this were castle oblivion, he could have just blocked her attacks. Unfortunately for him, this world didn’t abide by his card game based nonsense, which meant that he had to focus more on dodging, and with him dodging Roxas’s attacks, it left him open to Naminé’s own blows. It also helped that he wasn't expecting her to aim for his hair.

With two swift cuts, his hair was ruined. Marluxia swung his scythe wildly enough that it forced the two to back off.

“You ruined my hair? Come now, Naminé, I thought we were closer than that. This is just low”

“I was feeling generous, you shithead. Don’t make me regret it.”

“You may have been feeling generous, but I’m afraid that **_I won’t be_** ” Marluxia spoke venomously, rising into the air, petals appearing and flowing around him. He let out a hearty laugh only to be kicked in the stomach by an invisible force.

Said invisible force quickly made himself visible, revealing himself to be what appeared to be a young boy in a black and red full spandex suit “Uh hi, I’m Spider-Man, friendly neighborhood kind, well, for like two weeks anyway. I don’t really have all the context here but that’s a bad guy, right?” Roxas and Naminé nodded. Spiderman brushed himself off and got into a fighting stance as Marluxia got up, clearly winded from the hit. He came in swinging, but Spiderman slid under the blade and kicked him firmly in the behind, leaving him open for Naminé to go in for another attack, this time getting in and firing a Firaga spell point blank into his stomach, the attack sending him flying out the door.

The trio ran toward him, but unfortunately they were not fast enough to stop him from changing forms. Marluxia’s second form stood before them. A tall, ominous Nobody with two long scythe arms and Marluxia’s top half sticking out of a flower on top of it.

“Do you want to scream?” he asked, before laughing insidiously. By now, the civilians who had been watching the original fight had long since fled

“The heck is that thing?!” Spider Man exclaimed, ducking and narrowly avoiding the swing of its blade.

“We can’t let him reach his third form. It’s massive and Sora took forever to beat it. We have to make him retreat here!” Naminé exclaimed, keyblade at the ready. Roxas nodded, and pulled a keychain out of his jacket and gave it to her. When attached to her keyblade, it changed form in a burst of flame, changing Memory’s Embrace to Bond of Flame, a keyblade which resembled Axel’s old chakram weapons

“I’ve had that on me since I was with the organization. I figure since he’s weak to fire, this’ll make at least some difference. Kick his fucking ass, Naminé. Wipe that smug smirk right off his stupid face” Roxas said, giving her hand a firm squeeze.

With his encouragement running through her mind, Naminé gripped Bonds of Flame and charged toward Marluxia, dodging out of the way of the scythe swings. His face was too high for her to hit, so she ran toward a building, intending to run up it and fling herself at his face. As if reading her mind, Roxas ran toward the same building, timing himself in such a way that he boosted her up.

As the two of them started their combination attack, Spider-Man noticed Marluxia getting ready to swing and immediately shot webs at the scythes, holding them back so they wouldn't hit Naminé or the building. Right as he felt his grip weakening, Naminé flung herself up in the sky, pointing her keyblade directly at her former abuser, she let out a battle cry, and, as if responding to her determination, her keyblade form changed into what appeared to be a rocket launcher. 

With a smirk, Naminé pointed the weapon toward where she assumed his crotch would be if he still had one, cleared her throat and began singing something that had no doubt been in her head the entire time “Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great!”

“What the fu-” before Marluxia could finish, he was completely enveloped in an explosion of flames. When the explosion cleared, he was back in his first form, his organization XIII robe burnt quite severely. Using his scythe as a crutch, he stood up and glared at Naminé, who had just landed by Roxas

“So that’s how you’re going to be, damn witch” He spat, stumbling toward her. 

“Remind me what part of the last minute made you think insulting the girl who just blew you up was the right decision?” Roxas called out, burying his exhaustion from the fight in confidence, which he thankfully had an overabundance of.

While Marluxia would have normally recognized Roxas’s actions as a bluff, the shock from seeing Naminé fire a rocket launcher at him fried his logic enough that he stopped his approach, opened a dark corridor and stepped into it, narrowly dodging a weak fire spell as he did so.

Once Marluxia had left and Spider-Man had made sure there weren’t any hurt civilians, Roxas and Naminé finally took a moment to relax.

Spider-Man, or Miles as he introduced himself as later while they were resting, came to sit with them at a burger restaurant he took them to after the fight. 

“This place is chill, They won’t bother us for a while. It seems like you two need to relax a bit, and this place has the best fries.” Miles said, lifting his mask over his mouth so he could take a bite of some of said fries . “So, I don’t mean to pry, but who was that guy?You guys seemed to have history, her especially” as he said that, he gestured toward Naminé with a french fry

Normally Roxas would have either dodged the question or been vague about it, but considering Naminé would have most certainly been hurt or killed without Miles’s intervention, he figured the young hero deserved to know.

“He’s an...Ex-coworker of mine. He had Naminé here locked in a castle for quite a while and forced her to mess with my Someb-Sorry, my brother’s memories.”

“Ex-coworker? How old even are you?”

“Like, two?” Roxas’s reply was so nonchalant it surprised even Naminé, and she was fully aware of that fact. In response to a very confused stare, he chuckled and spoke again “I’m fifteen. The story of how I came to work with that guy is one we don’t have the time to go over”

“Okay, changing the subject. Are the two of you, like-” Before Miles could finish his sentence, Naminé met his eyes and shook her head.

“We’re just...traveling together” Yes, that sounded accurate enough, although she could tell even though the mask that Miles didn’t fully buy it. Of course, Roxas barely even noticed, he was too busy eating.

God, she was such a...what did Kairi call it? Moronsexual? Not that she thought Roxas was a moron, although she’d heard stories. Stories that she was sure were at least partially Axel’s fault. No, Roxas wasn’t a moron, just incredibly frustrating. She imagined this was at least half of what Kairi felt, since the redhead was dating not only Sora but also Riku (something Naminé hadn’t even known was possible until Kairi explained it.)

As an awkward silence fell over the table, She let out a sigh. Thankfully, for once in his life, Roxas was able to immediately sense something was wrong, and he, instinctively, went to hold her hand. At this display of not quite pda, Miles stood up, checked his phone (where was he even keeping it in that suit? and excused himself.

“I gotta go, my dad and I are going to the movies. It was good meeting you two! Relationships are hard. Trust me, the girl I like lives in a whole other universe!” he called out as he made his exit. Normally Naminé would have taken that as an exaggeration, but considering what she’d gone through in just the day alone, along with what she’d seen the kid do, she took that statement at face value.

Now that she was alone with Roxas, she took the opportunity to scoot a little bit closer to him. Even if she couldn’t put into words how she felt, she could at least express her feelings through her emotions, right? She hugged onto his arm, purely trying to enjoy his presence. Sure, they could do this on the gummi ship, but something about doing it in public felt so much better.

As Roxas felt Naminé cling to his arm, he felt an unfamiliar sensation in his chest. His cheeks darkened at the sudden contact but he made no move to stop her. Being with her like this felt...nice. So nice in fact that he almost forgot that maybe an hour earlier she’d turned her keyblade into a goddamn rocket launcher

“So, Naminé, do you think we’re done here, or should we stay for a little longer to make sure there isn’t a Heartless attack? Roxas asked her, making his voice quieter when he said the word Heartless.

“I’d rather not be here much longer and risk another Marluxia scale attack” She responded, and with that the two left the building and headed toward their ship. On the way, Namine took note of both the fact that he’d been holding her hand the whole time and the red tint to his cheeks.

Perhaps he wasn’t entirely hopeless after all.

**Obtained Keychain: Sunflower  
Obtained Keychain: Leap of Faith**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to imagine that Kids in America blasts while Namine and Roxas are on the offensive, its cut off by Graceful Assassin, then quickly cut off again when Miles cuts in, this time by Whats Up Danger
> 
> Next Week: Roxas and Naminé meet a prince and his friends on the worst day of their lives


	4. Stand By Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Naminé meet a prince on his way to get married
> 
> Unfortunately like always, life had other plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to post this today but i guess you get all the chapters ive written today
> 
> you're welcome

Roxas and Naminé arrived at their third destination to the sound of bickering. There was a road in front of them, and on it was a car with 4 men by it, one of them in the car itself while the other 3 were outside of it

“I think we can forget about hitching our way there. Thought people were friendly outside the city” Spoke the tallest one.

“You can only go so far on the kindness of strangers” Replied the man in the driver’s seat

“Hmm, call it a gut instinct, but something tells me we should go help those guys” Roxas stated nonchalantly as he started walking toward them. Naminé would have objected had she not came to that exact conclusion

As Roxas and Naminé walked toward the road, they heard more of the conversation going on

“I’ve already pushed myself...to the brink of death”

“Oh, get up”

This exchange continued until one of the boys noticed Naminé and gave her a look she didn't quite recognize or know how to react to. Roxas noticed it as well, and upon feeling her discomfort (they were still holding hands, this was progress!) he stepped slightly in front of her, using his body to block hers.

“Hey, didn’t anyone ever tell you it was rude to stare?” Roxas said, causing the man to blink and look away. While it made the staring stop, it unfortunately resulted in the tall man giving him quite a nasty glare.

“Don’t you know who you’re talking to? That’s the crown Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, who did you think it was?” he asked expectantly, obviously assuming Roxas would apologize. Unfortunately, Roxas was not one to back down, especially not when he had absolutely no idea who he was talking to when he’d made the comment

“Uh...some guy who was staring creepily at my friend and making her uncomfortable? Prince or not, he should still have manners” Roxas shot back with a shrug.

“Gladio, c’mon, it’s not a big deal, he clearly isn’t from around here” Noctis said to the taller man before turning to Naminé 

“I’m sorry, you just look a lot like my fiancé did when we were kids and I thought i was seeing things” he explained, although something about the way he looked when he said “fiancé” felt off, as if he didn’t exactly want to be in that position

That was enough for Roxas to calm down. He didn’t stop holding Naminé’s hand (not that she minded), but he stopped guarding her. Despite the de-escalation of the situation, Gladio was still glaring at him. Despite that, Roxas began moving toward the four so he could introduce himself and help them with the car.

“I’m Roxas, and this is Naminé. Sorry if I was rude, didn’t want to take the chance that you were some creep who was gonna hit on her” He held out a hand toward Noctis to shake

“Oh, is she your girlfriend?” The blonde boy who had just been watching the whole exchange asked teasingly, although there was actual curiosity in his voice.

Roxas smirked and shook his head “Yeah, I wish. We’re just traveling companions” That answer seemed to be satisfactory, because the blond (Prompto, as he introduced himself), didn't bother him about his relationships, instead helping him push the car. About halfway from their destination, a group of heartless attacked. 

Naminé sprung into action, summoning her keyblade before even Roxas could, and only noticed after the fact that it still had the keychain Roxas gave her attached to it. In the moment itself, she was far too focused on fighting

Prompto pulled out a gun (Where the hell was he keeping that?) and started shooting heartless. Gladio pulled out a greatsword, and the guy who Roxas hadn’t gotten the name of yet (Iggy or something?) pulled out two knives and started tossing them at heartless. Noctis was using a one handed longsword, but what was weird is that it materialized in his hand, not unlike a keyblade. Roxas didn’t have time to dwell, of course, since they were in a combat scenario. He summoned oathkeeper and oblivion to his hands and started beating down heartless left and right.

Eventually, after the small fry were beaten down, that's when the Nobodies started showing up. Ninja Nobodies in particular, although thankfully for Naminé, there was no sign of the bitch who controlled them. As nice as it felt to blow Marluxia up, she didn’t think she could do it twice in a row. Once the Nobodies were taken out, Naminé scanned her surroundings to make sure there were no ambushes. Once she was satisfied, she returned to the group and reported it was safe to keep going

“You two don’t seem unused to combat.” Gladio commented, although thankfully he stopped glaring at Roxas.

“Well I’ve been fighting for most of my life, and ever since she came to Yen Sid’s tower, Naminé’s been training harder than anyone else there.” Roxas’s response was simple, not revealing any more than he had to.

“I see.” Gladio’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t comment further. Finally, they arrived at Hammerhead. 

While Noctis talked to one of the mechanics (Cindy, Naminé’d heard the girl introduce herself as), Naminé and Roxas talked amongst themselves, finding themselves somewhere that was at least mildly private.

“If there's Heartless and Nobodies here, we can’t just leave these guys to deal with them. Especially not with the risk of a Xehanort like there was in the other two worlds.” Roxas said in a hushed voice.

“Yes but...those Nobodies, they were hers. If she’s here, then-” Naminé was cut off by Roxas taking her hands in his.

“I promise you, that if she’s here, then we’ll kick her ass. I won’t let her hurt you ever again.” He told her, eyes full of determination.

Elsewhere, Larxene of the True Organization watched Hammerhead from a cliff. She’d spotted Naminé, and was about to go and make her life a whole less pleasant, when suddenly a dark corridor appeared behind her, a hooded figure emerging from it.

“Master Xehanort says to withdraw, he said there was some strangely dressed man he attempted to add to our ranks, but before he started the ritual, he sensed some sort of horrid sickness radiating off of him, something he could tell would infect all of us.” They stated plainly. Larxene scoffed, but after deliberating on it for a while, she let out a frustrated sigh and left through the portal

While all that was happening, Noctis and the boys went off and killed some beasts while their car was getting repaired. Once they returned and were getting in, Ignis, the man in the driver’s seat turned to look at Roxas and Naminé

“I’m afraid there isn’t any room for you two.” he stated.

“Don’t worry about it, I have a solution” Roxas said, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion. “In case this doesn’t work, you might want to duck” He said to the remaining people outside.

With the warning given, he tossed the two blades in the air, where they boomeranged in the air and, in a flash of light, morphed into a motorcycle with a sidecar, complete with a pair of helmets. When Naminé gave him a confused look he gave a little smirk and explained

“I’ve been trying to get a keyblade glider to materialize for weeks. I literally got one to spawn for like 30 seconds the day before we were given our quest. But, it didn’t even have the sidecar last time.” he stated, putting the helmet on.

“Just who are you two?” Noctis asked in amazement.

“Nobody in particular” 

Noctis didn’t get that answer, nor did he understand why after hearing it Naminé let out a soft snicker, or why her cheeks darkened when Roxas took her hand and helped her into the sidecar, then handed her the helmet. Despite his inexperience with attraction, especially sexual attraction, he’d never understood that, he could tell that Naminé was very attracted to Roxas, and deep down he wished he had a relationship like that.

Unfortunately, obligation was obligation. At the very least, Luna would be a pleasant person to spend his life with, even if he didn’t think he really loved her.

Roxas was very glad Noctis and his friends went in front of them, because it took what to him felt like an embarrassing amount of time to get used to the controls of his Keyblade glider. Once he’d adjusted, however, he had a lot of fun just driving down the road, the lack of tires on the vehicle meaning he could pay less attention to the rules of the road, although to her credit Naminé did help keep his ass in gear whenever he got too fancy 

“Roxas, eyes on the road, we’re following them, remember? It’d be a waste of time if we made them wait for us to catch up. Next time, I’ll drive, it can’t be that different from a gummi ship” She said, being louder than usual so he could hear her through the helmet

“Okay, want me to wrap my arms around you while you drive so you can feel me against your back?” he responded teasingly.

“What, you offering?” was all she said in response, grateful that he couldn’t see her blush. Here she was, effortlessly flirting with him, but when it came to telling him how she felt for real, she could barely form the words. She figured it must have been the helmets covering their faces so she didn’t have to see his face, thus making her less nervous.

“I mean, if you want to, we can drive like that the next time we get the chance” Roxas stuttered out, too distracted by the almost familiar pounding of his heart at the thought of that to straighten his voice. He was so distracted, in fact that they nearly ran right into a rock, only narrowly managing to avoid it.

Eventually, they reached their destination: Galdin Quay. Roxas knew that because the guy at the front was very enthused to welcome them. So enthused in fact that he said it damn near every time they passed by him after the first time. The first time, however, they ran into a strange man in a very ugly coat.

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck” he proceeded to tell them that the boats that they were supposed to take to get to Noctis’s wedding weren’t operating. Then, he tossed a coin at Noctis and turned to walk away

Roxas couldnt put his finger on it, but something about this man felt sinister. Especially when he called himself a man of no consequence. If he really was nobody important, then he would not have felt the need to say so. Oblivion appeared in his hand, and in response the man whipped around

“Hey, kid, I think I ran into a friend of yours. Old, bald, mentioned something about forging a key-blade, or was it an χ-blade?” He said, with a rather insidious smirk

Roxas froze and a chill ran down his spine.. Xehanort had been here. If Xehanort had been there, then Larxene definitely had been, at least at some point. Judging by the fact that this man wasn’t controlled by Xehanort, he was either more powerful or intimidated the old man away with something. His grip on Oblivion tightened and, noticing his distress, Gladio stepped forward menacingly

“Now now, there’s no need to be so aggressive. I just thought that you’d find that little factoid interesting. He’s long gone now, so relax.” He grinned and walked away fully as Oblivion vanished once more from Roxas’s hand.

“...Fuck” was all Roxas could manage, so Ignis and Naminé took him to a table where he could calm down. Despite all his bravado, he was absolutely terrified of Xehanort. He’d watched in horror as the man nearly took Sora, he’d seen Riku barely able to fight back against the younger, more inexperienced, Xehanort. He knew that if he ran into the man he would not be able to beat him, and what scared him more was what Xehanort could do to the world or especially the people on it. The last thing Noctis needed on top of his wedding was an apocalypse.

While Noctis and his friends were sent to grab a gemstone, Naminé stayed behind to keep Roxas company. Taking his hand in hers, she gently squeezed it, keeping quiet until she was interrupted by the sound of their stomach’s growling. They were in a restaurant, but just a glance at the menu made her worried. Sure, they could afford it, Yen Sid had made sure of it, but she was still worried how much it would bite into their funds

“We should probably get something to eat, Roxas. When was the last time we ate anything?” Naminé asked, trying to remember herself. Because time flowed differently in gummi space, as a result they hadn’t really spent nighttime anywhere. 

“Uh,well, in terms of actual meals, we haven’t had anything substantial besides the burgers that Miles bought us, but we did have ice cream before we arrived here.” Roxas responded, his stomach growling again. As much as he loved Sea Salt ice cream, being his own person meant that he could no longer subsist entirely on it. He solely blamed Axel for his lack of experience with other foods, even if they didn't have to eat as Nobodies.

“That settles it, we’re getting a meal here. It’ll help you get your mind off of recent things as well.” Naminé said, giving his hand a squeeze as she reluctantly pulled away to talk to the lady running the kitchen. Thankfully, they were willing to give her a discount.

Once their food arrived, Naminé began to dig in. Noctis hadn’t returned yet, but that just gave her all the more time to spend with Roxas. He’d finally recovered from the fact that they’d almost ran into Xehanort, and, while he wasn’t as talkative, he was at least smiling again.

“So, Roxas” Naminé began. “I was thinking that before we went to our next destination that we should go to Twilight Town and get some ice cream, just the two of us. With all the stuff that’s happened, especially with Marluxia back in Brooklyn, we could use a break”

“Why, Naminé, are you asking me out on a date?” Roxas teased, causing her cheeks to pinken and for her to smack his arm

“Of course not, i’m way out of your league” She responded quickly, although internally she was screaming. That was a Kairi joke, and she did not have the confidence to pull a Kairi. Come to think of it, why was she making jokes when the answer was kind of a yes? She wanted this! 

“Oh please, if anything, we’re the only people in each others’ league” Roxas retorted, but before Naminé could tell him that yes, he was totally in her league, they were interrupted by the sound of Prompto’s voice

“Oh come on, we had to grab a gem from near a giant bird and you two got to relax and have a nice meal? That's so unfair”

“Come now, stop complaining, we need to get this stone to Dino” Ignis said, not even stopping to let Prompto catch up..

Eventually, they returned with the news that since the boats weren’t taking anyone to Altissia, they’d have to stay in Galdin Quay for the night. The offer was extended to Roxas and Naminé, who, after some back and forth, agreed to share a room so long as there were two beds.

“I wonder how many blizzard spells it’d take to make a bridge to where Noctis is heading. At this point, it’d probably be faster than waiting for a boat” Roxas mused out loud

“The Altissians’d be more likely to take it as a threat than a legit method of transporting the prince.. Besides, your blizzard magic isn’t as good as your other spells,” Naminé reminded him. 

She was correct, and he knew it. His strengths had always been Thunder and Aero spells, only casting fire and blizzard when he knew the heartless he was facing were weak to them. Of course, he wasn’t going to admit it, so he picked up his pillow to throw at her.

“If you throw that pillow at me, I’m not giving it back” Naminé said, and, when he put his pillow back down, she added “That’s what I thought”

Eventually, morning came. Unfortunately, with it came very bad news. Ignis knocked on their door and gestured for them to come into Noctis’s room. As they entered. Ignis gave Noctis a strange look.

“What's that look for?” Noctis questioned

“It’s in all the papers” Ignis said to Gladio, prompting both Roxas and Noctis to ask “What is?”

“Insomnia...falls” Read Prompto, and with those words, a massive chill ran down the two keyblade wielders’ spines. While they knew it couldn’t have been Xehanort, this news was still horrifying to hear. Noctis’s dad was dead, and there wasn’t anything they could have done

The longer they stood there and listened to what happened, the worse the duo felt. So of course, when Noctis and his friends decided to go back to his home, they had to come with.

“We’re coming with you guys.” Roxas stated firmly, Naminé nodding.

“Get a move on then” Noctis spoke bluntly and coldly, rushing them out of the room and back to where the car was parked. Roxas summoned his keyblade glider, but this time let Naminé drive it.

They quickly arrived at the border, and after skirting around the gate to get a vantage point, they were faced with a horrifying sight: not only were there empire soldiers everywhere, but there was plenty of heartless as well

“You four go on ahead, we’ll take care of these!” Roxas called out. They nodded and ran ahead, Roxas cutting down anyone who attempted to follow them. “Ah ah ah, you’re facing us.” He said, cutting through several soldiers, his keyblades slicing nicely through their armor. Then came the big threat. A massive, fiery, avian, heartless landed on the ground with a shockwave that sent any remaining empire soldiers who hadn't been taken out already flying into any nearby walls

Noticing it was on fire, Naminé took off Bonds of Flame’s keychain and pocketed it, choosing instead to equip Sunflower for its high aerial combos. Roxas stuck with Oathkeeper and Oblivion, but adjusted his stance a little. This enemy was in the sky, so he knew he’d need to rely on that flowmotion thing Sora had tried to teach him weeks ago. The same flowmotion that had flung him into both walls and, amusingly enough in hindsight, Riku.

Rushing forward, Roxas jumped against a stone wall, bouncing off of it and managing to get a couple hits in. Unfortunately, as he landed and attempted to do it again, the creature shot a massive fireball at him, which he only barely managed to dodge. In retaliation, he shot out a thunder spell, which, while it did deal some damage, wasn’t as effective as he’d hoped. Hell, even the weak ass Blizzard spell he’d flung in desperation hardly damaged it. Prepping an aeroga, he flung himself into the air, gliding toward the heartless.

While Roxas kept it distracted, Naminé desperately tried to remember the lesson Yen Sid had taught her about water magic. He’d told her that it was one of the more fickle elements to master, and, of course, her first several attempts had failed. But, she couldn't fail now. Noctis and his friends were counting on her, Roxas was counting on her, and so was everyone else in this world.

Gathering her strength, she pointed Sunflower at the Heartless and shouted “WATER!” at her command, a stream of water doused the beast, putting out the flames and soaking it. Taking the chance, Roxas fired out a thundara at it, which in combination with the water dealt an extreme amount of damage.

“That gives me an idea! Naminé, on my mark, aim another water spell!” Roxas called out, letting his magic charge so he could fling another thunder. 

Naminé, while she did not know what he was planning, went along with it. Roxas gestured to her, and simultaneously, their spells were shot out, merging into one

“Storm!” Roxas called out as the magic took the form of an electricity infused ball of water, which exploded once it came into contact with their target. 

It didn’t last very long after that. Between Naminé’s air combos and Roxas pelting it with spells, it quickly fell, dissolving into shadows. Dispelling his keyblades, Roxas sat down on the ground, and started drinking a potion.

“How did you know that would work, Roxas?”

“I didn’t. That was blind panicked improvisation” 

As they cooled off, Noctis returned. He was far less heated than he was before. In fact, he had an aura of determination.

“We’re going to find the truth. You two don’t have to come with. Actually, I’d recommend you don’t.” He told them simply, then, as he started walking off, he clarified “I don’t doubt you two can handle yourselves, but you should stay out of it for now. Besides, you owe each other a date, right?” He said teasingly, which despite being odd for him, still made the two blush

“We’ll come back, Noct” Roxas promised as the two groups went their separate ways. Noctis and his friends got into their car and Roxas and Naminé got back into the gummi ship.

Onboard, Roxas set the next destination to Twilight Town. Strangely, despite being auto-set to go to the next world, the navigation system didn’t fight him on that, only told him that their next destination was someplace called “Midgar”.

**Obtained Duality attack: Storm**

**Obtained Keychain: Chosen king**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm unsure of how to pace the romance, but i know i don't want them to be official until like, chapter 10. Roxas and Naminé have grown very close however so they might end up being together in all but title.
> 
> Next week: A double chapter feature. First, Roxas and Naminé have a nice not-date in twilight town, then, its AVALANCHE time


	5. I want you for a lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Naminé go on a totally not date
> 
> As usual, things devolve. At least neither of them got into a fight this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO IF YOU'RE GONNA THINK TWICE, BABY
> 
> I DON'T WANNA KNOW BABY
> 
> I DON'T WANNA KNOW

Arriving in Twilight Town, Roxas immediately headed to the ice cream shop. He didn’t want to separate from Naminé, especially with how many Organization members they’d already run into, but she assured him that it’d be fine and headed off toward the clock tower.

“Hey, Roxas. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around town. Who was that girl you were talking to? Girlfriend?” the shopkeep greeted, his question making Roxas’s cheeks blush pink. 

Despite his limited understanding of romance and love, he knew what a girlfriend was, and recently he’d been having some quite conflicting feelings about her. He’d grown quite close to her in the time they’d spent together, and he did think she was cute, but on the other hand, he was unsure if he was ready for a relationship. Then there was the fact that Sora was dating Kairi, and he and Naminé had come from their hearts. Did he actually like her, or were Sora’s feelings overpowering his own. The fact that he didn’t know made him all the more hesitant to go very far with her.

“Oh, no. We’re just traveling together and thought we’d stop by and have some ice cream.” Roxas quickly said, holding out the money for the ice cream bars.

“Oh, okay. But just so you know, you two would make a cute couple” The clerk laughed and exchanged the money for the ice cream bars. With ice cream in hand, he rushed to catch up with Naminé.

At some point it occurred to him just how many terrible, traumatic events had occurred to them in Twilight town. Naminé in particular had basically been kept a prisoner by some righteous jackass whose only real difference between him and the organization was their choice of clothing. That, and maybe morality, but if he was a good person, he wouldn’t have put Naminé in a room that resembled her room from Castle Oblivion (Or so he heard from Sora, he’d never actually been). As he walked toward the clock tower, he felt as if he was being watched.

He was, in fact. Xigbar of the organization watched his approach from the top of a building, a hooded figure beside him. He had originally been instructed to attack Roxas and Naminé for ruining their plans in two previous worlds, but when he realized the two were having a date that basically went out the window. Letting this scene play out while messing with them just a little was far more amusing.

“Look at that, Poppet, he’s basically replaced you” He spoke, grinning. His companion didn’t seem to find it that funny, but to his disappointment they didn’t seem too angry about it either

“He doesn’t remember me. Besides, who am I to dictate what he does? Roxas is his own person, if he wants to date that girl, why should I stop him?” Their voice was calm, with just the slightest hint of jealousy. 

“Suit yourself, Meanwhile I do believe I might get some ice cream myself, all this babysitting is making me hungry.” he said, then after feeling a glare even from behind the hood, he added, “I’ll pay, obviously.”

With that, Xigbar leapt down from the building, leaving his hooded companion alone on the roof with their thoughts. True to his word, he did grab some ice cream. Then he went to an entirely different rooftop to eat it. 

His companion, meanwhile, decided to get closer in order to eavesdrop on the conversation. They weren’t jealous, exactly, they just wanted to make sure Naminé wouldn’t hurt him like she already had before. Besides, seeing that clock tower brought about a sense of wondrous nostalgia they wanted to feel more of

Unaware of the scheming that went on, Roxas and Naminé climbed to the top of the clock tower. As they sat down, Roxas handed Naminé her ice cream bar and took a bite of his.

“Y’know, I ate ice cream with Axel a lot, but sometimes I think I remember a third person with us…” Roxas said, and as he did so, flashes of a girl with black hair went through his mind, causing him to unconsciously to let out a groan of pain

Naminé put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, and nodded. She didn’t know if she wanted to tell him about Xion. On the one hand, they were close friends and she wanted him to remember that, but on the other she was worried about the suffering he’d re-experience upon getting his memories back. 

Before she could say anything, she spotted a hooded figure behind her, and briefly, a flash of black hair. The figure made a shushing motion and shook their head, then when Roxas looked behind him after seeing Naminé staring at something, they moved out of the way.

Blinking, Roxas shrugged and went back to his ice cream. Naminé, deciding that, as much as she respected the figure’s wishes, Roxas deserved to know about his friend. However, she had a hunch about who the hooded figure was and who they worked for, so she decided to, for now, not tell Roxas that his friend was alive.

“You did have a third friend. Her name was Xion. Unfortunately, due to the plotting of the organization, you had to strike her down” Naminé explained, setting her finished ice cream stick down to steady him, since as someone well versed in memories, she knew that just saying the name would cause him pain, likely due to every memory returning at once.

True enough, at the mention of her name, Roxas’s stick fell beside him and he gripped his head, a flood of memories filling his head. Once the pain subsided, he laid down against the wall, tears flooding down his face. 

Naminé gripped his arm, keeping him steady. The hooded figure who she was now positive was Xion approached again, gripping his other arm silently, the three now laying together watching the sunset.

Elsewhere, Xigbar took a bite of his ice cream and watched these developments happen. He chuckled, getting louder as a dark corridor opened behind him, a young man wearing a black shirt with red stripes emerging from it.

“Her heart wanes. We must take caution, and, if necessary, replace her with someone else. We even have a candidate in mind” He spoke, and in response Xigbar nodded.

“Something tells me that if this hadn’t happened Poppet would’ve switched sides anyway. So, who do you have in mind?” Xigbar asked, turning away entirely from the trio who were, somehow, managing to nap in the constant sunlight of this damned world

“Well, there’s a man named Sephiroth who shows great potential in achieving our goals. We’ll be sending someone after him soon. Now come, Let us leave them to their little reunion.” He spoke, then retreated into the portal, Xigbar shaking his head and remaining on the rooftop

“And let them add another to their ranks? As if…”

Roxas awoke about an hour later, turning his head to realize that there was a black haired girl beside him, and his sleeve was wet which meant she’d been crying. Putting two and two together, he realized this was Xion. In her hand was his ice cream stick, and on that was the word WINNER. Putting the thought of finally eating with her and Axel again aside, he sat up, causing Naminé to jolt awake, while Xion just sleepily clung closer to her friend. Naminé was not only flustered, but she’d also been having a particularly pleasant dream that she wasn’t exactly happy to be woken from. Before she could get back to her dream, she heard the sound of footsteps.

“Well, this is certainly one hell of a thing to see when I pause my training to get some ice cream. Roxas, you sly dog.” Axel, or Lea as he was called by everyone but Roxas, said as he approached. He looked confusedly at Xion, then looked at Naminé for an explanation.

“Lea, do you remember Xion?” Naminé asked, and like with Roxas, the sound of her name caused months worth of memories to flood his head all at once.

“I thought she…” Lea’s voice was weak, not wanting to even speak aloud his thoughts.

“She was, but it seems the Organization brought her back as one of their own ranks. I don’t know why she came to us, but It’s very important that we take her to Yen Sid.” Naminé explained, loud enough for Lea to hear but not loud enough to wake Xion up.

“Do we know if this is a trick?” Lea asked, looking down at Xion with an expression neither Naminé or Roxas could quite place.

“The organization needs all the bodies they can get. I’m going to assume she was here with someone and they disobeyed their orders to attack us.

At the mention of disobeying orders, Roxas spoke up, “It was probably Xigbar, then. He seems like the kind of person to disobey orders if what he could do instead amused him”

Beside him, Xion stirred awake. Spotting Lea, she almost burst back into tears again, but he quickly brushed the tears from her eyes. 

“Now now, there can be time for that later. Right now, we gotta make sure you’re safe, got it memorized?” Lea said with a chuckle as Roxas and Xion got up, Xion handing Roxas the winner stick, which, as he went to pocket it, was suddenly shot by something the 4 quickly recognized as an arrow from one of Xigbar’s weapons. Sure enough, he revealed himself, using magic to levitate in front of the clock tower

“Now now. I was going to let Poppet here have a cute little reunion with you, Kiddo, but letting your side have her? As if.” With a chuckle, he fired off several more shots, but before either Roxas or Naminé could summon their keyblades, the shots were countered with fireballs.

“I’m sorry, but I made a promise that I’d bring her back, and I don’t intend on breaking it, got it memorized” Axel said, summoning Flame Liberator to his hand, and jumping toward Xigbar. In an odd show of good sportsmanship, Xigbar used his gravity magic to ensure Axel safely made his way to the rooftop where they’d start their fight.

“Get Xion to Yen Sid, and then tell him to send Sora or Riku here!” Lea called out, as the three rushed from the clock tower to get onto the train.

“That desperate to die, are you, Axel?” Xigbar teased, readying his arrowguns.

“It’s Lea, and, to put in a way you'll understand _as if_ ” Lea chuckled as he used Xigbar's own catchphrase, and the two began their fight, Xigbar having the speed advantage but losing the range advantage as Lea began to throw chakrams at him, forcing him into a closer range.

As the fight went on, Roxas, Namine and Xion finally made their way onto the train to the Mysterious Tower. Once the train arrived at the tower, Roxas exited, quickly getting greeted by Riku

“I thought you two wouldn’t be back for a while longer.” Riku said, the look of confusion changing to worry when he saw Xion. “Wait...she’s...I thought she-” Riku stuttered out, gripping his head as Roxas cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“I’ll explain later, get to Twilight town, Axel’s fighting Xigbar” Roxas said, as he passed Riku to get into the tower 

“He’s fighting _who?_ Roxas! You can’t just drop a bomb like that and leave!”

“Too bad, Just did. Get a haircut, mullet boy. Preferably after you help Axel.” Roxas said, as he closed the door behind him.

Exasperated, Riku threw his hands up and got into the train, rushing to go help Axel.

Roxas, Xion and Namine entered the living area, spotting Sora and Kairi casually cuddling and watching a movie. The two didn’t even notice them come in until Roxas loudly made a joke gagging noise, causing them to jump and break apart.

“Hey Roxas, I thought you and Naminé wouldn’t be back for at least a few more days” Sora greeted, then he spotted Xion. Despite not knowing who she was, he couldn't help but feel like he should have.

“We’ll explain later, we need to show her to the King.” Roxas said, dismissing the dozens of questions his other no doubt had racing through his head.

“Show me what?” came a voice. Standing in the doorway was King Mickey himself.

“Xion’s back. Also we’ve been constantly running into members of the True Organization or hearing that they were in the same world as us, which is why Axel and Riku are currently” Roxas explained, ignoring the shocked “He’s what?” from both Sora and Kairi

“Well gosh, I guess we should work fast so we can help them, fellas.”

**Obtained D-link: Xion  
Obtained Keychain: Forget-me-Not**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter started with the intention of becoming romantic but then took a left turn and became very sad oops
> 
> Originally i planned on having the FF7 chapter next, but changed those plans so the Midgar chapter could be chapter 7 and the Axel centered chapter i have planned could be a very fitting chapter 8
> 
> Next time: Xion is home where she belongs, and Axel reflects on just who he'd always be there to bring back


	6. Everything is just right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xion is taken home where she belongs, Lea, is reminded of a promise he made, and Roxas finally gets that ice cream date with Naminé without any interruptions
> 
> well, mostly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BUT IF YOU'RE GONNA THINK TWICE BABY
> 
> I DON'T WANNA KNOW, BABY
> 
> I DON'T WANNA KNOW

Xion was perfectly healthy. Strangely, there wasn’t a trace of Xehanort in her. With that information in mind, Yen Sid gave Sora and Kairi permission to start training with her. They needed all the advantages they could get, especially if Mickey and Riku’s quest to rescue Aqua failed, and, if somehow this was a trick, Sora and Kairi would be able to pacify her.. Eventually, they were let out of Yen Sid’s chamber. Sora started to get ready to go help Lea and Riku, when Roxas stopped him

“Let Kairi handle it, she’s been training with Axel for weeks”

“Why wasn’t I invited to those training sessions?” Sora asked

“You were off doing some important keyblade wielder shit. Something about new princesses of heart or some such nonsense. Meanwhile I just kind of sat here and waited for something exciting to happen. I did almost get Naminé and I enrolled in school before Yen Sid stopped me.” Roxas explained, a smirk coming to his face just at the thought of Yen Sid’s surprised reaction to his impressively forged documents.

Sora pouted, but relented and let Kairi and Naminé get on the train, sharing a short but sweet kiss with the redhead before she got onto the train, only pulling away when Roxas passed by them.

“Sora, keep Xion safe. _Or else_.” Roxas said, the threat clear in his eyes as the train door closed.

By the time Roxas and co entered the fight, Lea and Riku were just barely pushing Xigbar back. Despite being outnumbered, his ability to teleport and walk on walls was quite the pain in the ass for them.

“You’ll always be there to bring them back, huh? Well I’ll be sure to tell ol’ Saix that your promise doesn’t extend to him” Xigbar said with a smirk, and after noticing that his words caused Lea to freeze up he began firing several shots in the redhead’s direction, attempting to take him out first. 

His smirk faded when he heard three more keyblades being summoned. He almost went to retreat since he had no interest in fighting that many at the same time, but then he stopped when he saw Kairi was with them. Now this was interesting. He was so caught up in plotting that he didn't even see Kairi leaping onto Lea’s hands, the latter giving her a boost and flinging her right into Xigbar.

Kairi’s attack made contact, slashing across his chest and she landed with a roll, spinning herself around and pointing Destiny’s Embrace at their foe. 

“Where’d you learn that trick, princess?” Xigbar said with a surprised, pained groan.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kairi said, as her group adjusted itself so they could fight better.

Rather than continuing the fight, Xigbar dismissed his weapons, landing in front of the other keyblade wielders casually “Oh, fuck this, ‘m not sticking my neck out for Poppet. Guess it’s that Sephiroth guy’s lucky day” With those words, he opened a dark corridor. Before he stepped into it, however, he snapped his fingers and several sniper type Nobodies appeared to fight them. With a smug wave, he left, leaving the 5 keyblade wielders alone. 

“I’ve got this” Roxas called out. Dispelling one of his keyblades momentarily, he snapped his fingers similar to how Xigbar did, and again, like with Xigbar, several Nobodies spawned, this time of the samurai type. When Naminé looked at him in confusion, he responded with, “I miiiight have forgotten i could do that.” Then, after the look changed to a glare, “What? It’s not like I had any reason to do it before, everything else we could handle, and I doubt the weirdo in the mask or Marluxia would have been intimidated by them.”

Naminé sighed and shook her head, then picked off the remaining enemies that hadn’t been taken out. Once they were finished, she overheard Riku saying something to Roxas, but all she could hear clearly was “It’s not a mullet!”, followed by a comment from Roxas, to which he responded “It was a kilt! Not a skirt!”. As much as that conversation amused her, she decided instead to pull Roxas away, dragging him back toward the center of town so they could get another stick of ice cream.

“We’re going to have to go back on our trip soon, so let’s enjoy another ice cream session. Preferably without the fighting” Naminé said, a bit of pleading in her voice. Roxas merely nodded and they walked off.

Riku went back to the tower soon after Roxas and Naminé left. Kairi almost went with him, but seeing the distress in Lea’s eyes she stayed back. Lea almost didn’t say anything, but after receiving a glare from the girl, he sighed. 

“I said I’d always be there to bring them back, but look at me. I haven't done anything about Isa” he said, admitting his fear to her.

“If we can get Xion back, surely we can get Isa back. Just because you haven't made good on your promise yet doesn’t mean you wont, y’know” Kairi told him, and he nodded in response.

Her words hadn’t totally dashed his fears, but they were far less overwhelming now. He’d get Isa back, and he’d have all his best friends in one place. Hell, maybe Isa’d get a keyblade of his own and they’d be able to fight alongside each other like old times.

Up on the clocktower, Roxas and Naminé sat together, their bodies a little closer than usual. Naminé (correctly) figured that since they’d already platonically(?) cuddled together, she could stick a little closer to him without him making a fuss. After what had to have been at least 15 minutes of awkward silence, Roxas cleared his throat but couldn’t get anything out and they fell back into silence

“So, nice view, huh?” She asked, breaking the silence finally. She almost kept her focus 

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite sights.” Roxas agreed, but Naminé could tell he was staring at her and not the sunset. Before she could comment on it, he flinched and looked away

“A-anyway, our next destination is called Midgar, right? I think I heard Cloud mention it one time. Something about white haired fuckboys with swords that are even more impractical than his” Roxas said, changing the subject so quickly that Naminé got whiplash. 

Out of all the guys she knew, she just _had_ to have developed feelings for this thick headed blond idiot. And _of course_ , just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, right as she was about to make a damn move on him, she turned her head and saw Lea watching them. He was probably just keeping an eye on Roxas since they were friends, but she didn’t particularly enjoy having her “Romantic” endeavors watched by a man who both helped to keep her trapped in that castle and who had kidnapped Kairi.

Evidently, Roxas picked up on both her frustration and their audience, and in a surprisingly bold move for him, he wiped some ice cream off her face with his finger and licked it. The effect was two fold: Lea, clearly not expecting that (because who even would), let out a fake disgusted groan, letting them be alone, preferably for real this time, and Naminé, not expecting that at all let out a squeak and pushed him away, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

Roxas, to his credit, at least tried to be smooth, “I figured doing something like that’d make Axel leave us alone. Usually I’d enjoy his presence, but not when we’re clearly having a moment” with his explanation, his cheeks reddened.

Their “moment” continued. Summoning up all her courage, Naminé pulled Roxas’s attention toward her, and they leaned in. 

“Hey Roxas, Lea sent me to apolo-Oh god im sorry!” The person interrupting them this time was Sora. Without realizing it, Naminé had summoned her keyblade in her hand and was pointing it toward the boy. Before he could say another word he was blasted by a firaga, sending him flying off the clock tower.

Naminé sighed. They had the perfect mood, and it was ruined! She desperately hoped the next world they visited would give them some alone time. Or at least make their interruptions not as embarrassing. Dismissing her keyblade, she got up, then helped Roxas up. “C’mon, we should check on Xion.”

Roxas made a move to protest but she just tugged his arm harder. “Nam, tell me we’re at least going to tell Kairi her idiot boyfriend got fireballed” he asked, and in response she just smiled and shook her head

“He’ll be fine, he’s felt worse than that. I’m pretty sure the embarrassment felt worse than the magic anyway”

“You blasted him off the clock tower”

“Yeah well I’m pretty sure Lea told him to apologize as we were coming down, not to go to us. He’ll be fine, he should be lucky it wasn’t you who hit him, I think he still has nightmares about that fight, just what did you do to him?”

“I was angry he got to live instead of me so I distracted his friends and beat the shit out of him relentlessly. He only won that fight out of sheer stamina and healing magic. He asked if I was Riku and I bragged about how I kicked Riku’s ass. He’d say it was a draw, but he had to turn into Ansem so he could beat me, so not much of a draw” Roxas explained, the confidence back in his voice after how flustered he’d been.

While Naminé missed the quiet, flustered and flirty Roxas she just experienced, confident Roxas was the one she’d fallen in love with and frankly, flirty Roxas did not have the best track record.

She’d be damned if she was gonna just let that stay true though. 

About 30 minutes after Roxas and Naminé arrived at the mysterious tower, Sora came in, barely harmed aside from the scorch marks on his outfit and the lack of eyebrows.

“Sora? What happened?” Kairi asked

“Naminé...cast firaga on me” The boy explained, rushing toward the fridge to grab a potion.

“You left out the part where you walked in on a very private moment, Sora.” Roxas cut in before Kairi could even process Sora’s explanation.

“You do that with me and Kairi, and Riku all the time!” Sora retorted, not liking the negative attention he was getting

“Well you three are already dating. Naminé and I were-” Before Roxas could finish his sentence, Kairi shot Sora an odd look, clearly demanding an explanation

“Lea told me to tell them he was sorry” Sora muttered

“Well actually I told you to wait until they came down the clock tower, Sora” Lea cut in as he walked into the room where the argument was happening.

Thankfully, before the fight could escalate further, Riku entered the room and turned to Roxas, simply saying “Xion wants to see you” then headed toward his room. Naminé, who had been holding Roxas’s hand the entire time (it’d started as a gesture to not get separated from him, but had now become an affectionate one.), finally let go. Roxas looked back at her, but she sort of pushed him forward

“I’ll still be here when you get back, go and talk to her” she said, then gave him another shove, this one more playful.

Roxas entered Xion’s room, and as he saw her tears filled his eyes. Even with her in front of him he still couldn’t believe she was not only alive, but not someone he had to fight. He couldn’t even imagine how horrible it’d be to have to fight her.

“Hey, Xion.” Roxas greeted awkwardly. She immediately perked up and turned toward him.

“It’s good to see you again, Roxas. I was worried I’d have to deal with Riku staring at me all day.” Xion said, and patted the chair next to her bed. Yen Sid was in the process of creating a bedroom for her, so currently she was staying in the infirmary. 

“He didn’t try and hurt you again, did he?” Roxas asked immediately, but was quickly shut down by her shaking her head

“No, he just stared at me for like, 20 minutes without saying anything, it was kinda weird.” Xion said, easing his concerns.

“He’s probably feeling apologetic for like...all the shit he pulled. Like the times he beat the shit out of you. If i was there, I’d’ve...” Roxas’s face was calm, but his voice gave away the fact that he hadn’t forgiven Riku for any of that.

“Roxas,” Xion’s voice cut through the stream of negative thoughts in his head “It’s okay. We all need to be here to take out Xehanort right? Well once he’s gone, what’s stopping us from just taking Naminé and Axel and living somewhere else?” she asked, then as Roxas thought about that she added “-and, if he wants it, we can take Saix with us, but only if he apologizes to me”

Roxas nodded “I think i’d enjoy that. Maybe we could even actually go to school. After all the stuff we’ve been through, I think we deserve a break. Plus, I wanna do struggle fights against non-virtual people” he said.

“Axel’s basically our dad already, I’m sure he won’t mind-”  
“I won’t mind what?” Lea cut in from the doorway with a smirk. “I don’t want to interrupt your little moment, but i just couldn't help but be curious when i heard my name”

“We were saying that once Xehanort is dealt with we should move somewhere else and get into high school” Roxas explained

Lea scoffed. “Why would you _want_ to go to school?”

“Well Xion, Nam, and I have never been. All I have are the vague memories from the fake twilight town of enjoying summer vacation. Besides, wouldn't you like the pleasure of seeing some snooty rich jock get his ass kicked in a struggle match by me?” Roxas said, trying to entice his friend as much as he could

“Not just that, imagine that kid trying to get in a fight with Roxas and then getting a call from the kid’s family threatening to sue because they don’t know that not only will you call their bluff but if they do take you to court, you’ll own their asses?” Xion added, and before Roxas could pile anything else on, Lea waved his hand

“Okay, I get it, there’s no need to try and make it any more appealing. My only concern is how you and Naminé will, er...continue your relationship down its path, Roxas. Assuming you two are okay with it and Isa’s with me as your other parental figure, who’ll be her guardian?” Lea asked.

“Well if Xion and I are listed as siblings in the school directory since you’ll be our dad, maybe we can just have Naminé live next to us?” Roxas said, not even hiding the blush on his cheeks that came from Lea’s implication.

“Damn, you really have it bad for her, huh?” Xion muttered under her breath, but there was a tone of acceptance in her voice rather than jealousy. In another universe, maybe she’d be jealous of Naminé, but currently she was just happy to have her best friend back. Besides, she didn’t really think what she felt for Roxas was love. He was precious to her, yes. Moreso than even Axel (although she would absolutely not tell either of them that), but something told her that it was mostly, if not purely, platonic affection. If she had to become his sister to not lose him ever again, that was a choice she would easily make, and she knew Roxas would make the same choice in an instant.

Xehanort’s plans had split them apart once, he would not get a second chance. 

As the reunited trio talked, Naminé sat on the couch with Kairi and Sora, listening to the two of them talk, but not speaking much herself. She’d finally apologized for blasting Sora off a building, but added that he really should have just waited.

“Nam, you okay?” Kairi’s voice snapped Namine out of her trance and she jumped.

Once she’d calmed down, she responded “I wasn’t expecting that Xion was even alive. I’m happy to see her, but what if Roxas-” before the thought could leave her lips, she was shushed by Sora of all people

“You said you were pretty sure Roxas liked you, right? He doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would lead you on. Besides, you could always just be like me and date both of them” Sora said encouragingly, then was elbowed by Kairi

“That kind of thing isn’t for everyone, doofus. Besides, I don’t think Roxas could handle that. Especially not if you phrase it as “being like you” Kairi reminded him.

“I don’t think he likes Xion like that, but I just worry he’ll-” Yet again, she was cut off, this time by Roxas and Lea leaving the infirmary. Setting those thoughts aside, she cast a glance at the redhead, who simply gave her a thumbs up and headed toward his bedchamber.

“C’mon Sora, we should get going too. You know how grumpy Riku gets if we’re not in bed by a certain time when we have training tomorrow” Kairi, thankfully capable of reading the mood, dragged her oblivious boyfriend to their own bedchamber, leaving the two blondes alone.

“So, we’re going back on our journey tomorrow, huh? We better-” whatever Roxas was going to say, he was cut off by Namine grabbing him kissing him straight on the lips. Of course, he kissed back, not letting his surprise hold him back from returning the gesture.

After a disappointingly short time, the two pulled away and stood there in stunned silence. However, before Roxas could vocalize his feelings, Namine stuttered out a “I”ll see you tomorrow!” and ran off to her room, leaving Roxas alone with his thoughts.

Well, they were going to be stuck together again starting tomorrow, so surely they’d have plenty of time to talk about what had just happened. Well, hopefully, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It pains me so much to write Platonic Rokushi but it's just how the story willed itself to be written.. Theres already plenty of stories where Namine is jealous of Xion and vice versa so i'd rather write Xion accepting what makes her best friend happy.
> 
> Next Time: The Real Organization gains a One Winged Angel


	7. One Winged Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of their first kiss, Naminé and Roxas's lives only get more complex when they learn just who this Sephiroth guy that Xehanort wants for his side is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ESTUANS INTERIUS  
> IRA VEHEMENTI  
> ESTUANS INTERIUS  
> IRA VEHEMENTI  
> SEPHIROTH
> 
> SEPHIROTH

Naminé was fairly certain she’d messed up royally. Not by kissing him, no. She was pretty sure that her mistake was running off after the fact. It’d certainly explain how the ship had been silent for almost an hour, anyway. The silence had been bugging her so much she’d nearly crashed twice.

After the second near crash, Roxas finally broke the silence, but it was only three words; “Nam, pull over”. Once She’d done so, she turned to face him. He took her hands in his and squeezed them gently.

“Roxas...I-” this time, it was Roxas who cut her off with a kiss. Before it could go on for any longer than 5 seconds, they were interrupted by an alarm on the ship. There were Gummi Nobodies approaching. She shared a glance with him and said “We’ll talk about this when we land” then turned her attention to the controls. 

Roxas was disappointed and frustrated at the interruption, but nodded. At least they were talking again. He’d take the lack of words over the silence any day

The Gummi Nobodies were hardly a threat, but to escape the possibility of any more showing up, Naminé sped the ship up and quickly landed it at their destination.

As they were getting their bearings, Naminé spotted a woman with long black hair (Tifa, she assumed, based on vague memories of running into her back in Hollow Bastion) talking to Cloud (who she definitely remembered from going through Sora’s memories). Her first instinct was to hide, but Roxas tugged her forward, and since she liked holding his hand, she didn’t make an attempt to stop him

“That’s not the version of them we know, but i am curious how similar this Cloud’s reaction will be to the other one when i call him dad” Roxas said with a smirk, causing Naminé to shake her head in response

Unfortunately, they were spotted before Roxas could do anything. Tifa looked between them and Cloud and raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know you became a dad before we reunited, Cloud” Tifa commented jokingly

“I didn’t.”

“Why did you have to say that, dad? I was going to show you my girlfriend and everything!” Roxas said with a smirk, causing the older blond to let out a frustrated groan and for Naminé to squeak.

“Why are you doing this, kid?” Cloud asked, electing to cut right to the point

“Because it amuses me greatly.” Roxas answered simply.

Before this conversation could continue, Roxas heard a soft but ominous ringing from behind him and only barely summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion to his hands to block the long, sharp blade that would have easily sliced him in half if he hadn’t stopped it. What he couldn’t stop, however, was the swift kick to the stomach that sent him flying and caused his keyblades to be flung from his hands

“Good to see you...Cloud” Their attacker said, somehow managing to be incredibly intimidating with only 5 words.

Roxas, dazed from the impact, squinted at the man’s face as Naminé and Aerith ran toward him to cast cure. 

“Hey Nam...are his eyes yellow? I can’t really tell from here” He said groggily. Although he was concussed, he clearly spotted Cloud in the background clashing with the man who at this point he was running under the assumption was Sephiroth based on context clues and vague memories of seeing Sora fight a similar looking man.

If this Sephiroth was already norted, then they were too late, and the best they could do was push him back. If he wasn’t, then they had to stop him before he completed his transformation. Shakily standing up, Roxas summoned his keyblades back to his hands, then attached the keychain he’d gotten from Xion to oathkeeper, shifting it to a more violet version of oathkeeper, complete with a Thalassa shell as the keychain. He wasn't sure why, but the name “Forget Me Not” seemed fitting, both for the keyblade and as a mental promise toward his best friend.

The very same best friend that he’d never see again if he didn’t get back into the fight. Using Oblivion as a momentary crutch, he stood back up, getting back into his battle stance. Naminé looked concerned, but summoned Memory’s Embrace into her hand and stood beside him.

Sephiroth paid them no mind, even as they rushed toward him. Without even turning his head, he flicked a hand and shot balls of darkened magic toward them. Roxas effortlessly blocked them and Naminé continued her rush, narrowly sliding under the swing of his sword

“You two must be the keyblade wielders that I was warned about. I do wonder if your weapons would obey me if i broke your spirits” Sephiroth chuckled, jumping back in order to more easily face his opponents, his single black wing flapping ominously. For a split second, Naminé could see a flash of gold in his eyes.

_ They were too late _ .

Well, that explained the infusion of darkness in his magic spells. Unlike Riku, whose spells took full advantage of his darkness, the spells Sephiroth launched were sloppy. That didn't, however, make them any less dangerous, as evidenced by the fact that multiple times she needed to pull back and cast curaga on herself.

“Tell me what you cherish most,” the man said, his blade pinning Roxas to a wall via his sleeve. “Give me the pleasure of taking it away” With his options quickly limiting, Roxas morphed oblivion into a spiked whip, slashing it across Sephiroth’s chest, causing him to withdraw his blade in surprise. With his opponent wide open, Roxas circled the whip around Sephiroth’s leg and slammed him into the ground, allowing Cloud and his friends to get a couple cheap hits in.

“Nice trick, kid, but can you do it a second time?” Sephiroth teased, before going into a flurry of merciless slashes toward Roxas. At first, most of them were blocked, but as the attack went on, he grew weaker until he was barely holding the attacks back.

“Roxas!” Naminé shouted, rushing in to cast curaga. Unfortunately, that was exactly what the man was waiting for. Kicking Roxas to the ground, he brought the full brunt of his blade down on her. 

She raised her keyblade and braced for impact, closing her eyes, but when the pain never came, she opened them back up again. Cloud had managed to block the attack, but he was almost as wounded as Roxas, and Aerith had her hands full just dodging the attacks launched at her.

“If this is all the side of light has, it will be an easy job to wipe them out. Starting, of course, with you two.” Sephiroth said, effortlessly dodging Roxas’s follow up attacks while parrying Cloud’s sword strikes.

At this point, Roxas was pretty beaten up, however he still had a trick up his sleeve. Rising up in the air, he summoned several pillars of light around him and Naminé, blasting Sephiroth back any time he tried to approach. Once this ability ran out, Roxas fell to his knees, yet he was still defiantly ignoring his wounds to block Sephiroth’s access to Naminé

“Why do you still resist? Surely you realize you can’t beat me with your paltry strength.” Sephiroth asked, pointing his blade toward Roxas.

“Because it pisses you off, and what can i say? I love pissing off white haired assholes with way too much ego. Now, kindly fuck off before I shove that blade up your ass”

“You’re in no position to throw those words around.”

“Oh I’m not, but  _ she _ is.” Roxas said, gesturing above him to where Naminé was pointing the transformed Bonds of Flame in the form of a rocket launcher toward him.

“Oh...shi-” Was all he got out before the explosion hit.

Unfortunately, once the smoke cleared, he was still alive. Staggering forward, he started chuckling. “I see. That...is your power”. Before he could resume his combat stance, he was interrupted by the entry of Xigbar

“Oh come now, Mr edgy angel guy. Let them have this victory. Think of it as a calm before the storm” Xigbar said, and before Sephiroth could protest, he was dragged into the dark corridor, leaving the wounded heroes alone to lick their wounds

“So...how did you know your girlfriend was going to do that?” Cloud asked later after they found an inn to stay in.

“Oh, I didn’t. Plan A was to say something really stupid when he killed me to ruin all the fun of it. Thank fuck Naminé had a plan B” Roxas admitted, wincing when Naminé lightly smacked his arm  
  
“You could have died, Roxas! I don’t know where your heart would have gone, but assuming it went back to Sora, we’d have to prepare a body all over again and if you were stuck in Sora’s body, then we-” Naminé was crying now, and thankfully Cloud had the decency to leave them alone. Well, mostly it was because this world’s Yuffie had returned from a supply run that’d spanned the entire fight with Sephiroth and he wanted to make sure the supplies she brought back weren’t stolen.

Roxas tried several times to form a sentence, but seeing her crying was messing him up royally. He pulled her into an embrace and wiped the tears from her eyes, pulling her into a kiss. If he was going to fuck up apologizing verbally he might as well take precautions to prevent that, and he couldnt think of any better precaution than just not talking. He kept the kiss going until he could tell she’d stopped crying, but he didn’t pull away fully, electing instead to continue holding her 

“I‘m sorry, i just thought that if I talked i’d’ve said something stupid and ruined what we had.” Roxas muttered, causing Naminé to shake her head

“Roxas, you don’t have to worry about messing up. If i could wait this long just for you to even realize I liked you, why would you saying something stupid be a dealbreaker? I li-I love you.”

Roxas attempted to respond several times, but each time just got too flustered. Eventually, he sighed and responded with “I think the kisses make it very clear how I feel about you, even if I’m worse at telling people how I feel than Sora was. Seriously, that boy stared at  _ both _ Kairi and Riku’s butts for months and it took 3 people just to make him realize he was not only bi, but he loved them both.”

Namine giggled at his stories of Sora’s obliviousness, and made a mental note to tease him about it later. For now, it was just the two of them and-

“Surprise attack!”

...The two of them and Yuffie. There goes any plans of having a nice evening. Pulling herself off of her boyfriend? Guy friend she wanted to date? Fuck it, her Roxas. Pulling herself away from her Roxas, she managed not to sound annoyed when she spoke “Hey Yuffie.”

Roxas meanwhile, managed no such thing “Yuffie i want you to go to Tifa and ask her what it means to  _ read the fricking room _ ”

“Awww, but if i go to Tifa she’ll just handcuff me somewhere again and I’ll have to listen to Cloud’s _boring_ stories or deal with Barret’s oddly specific pieces of wisdom!” Yuffie groaned, and, to Roxas’s credit, he held back whatever rude comment he was thinking

“Yuffie, Roxas and I were having a private conversation, one that I don’t feel like having with you here, and one that we haven’t even finished” Namine said firmly, going so far as to hold Roxas’s hands and even pull him into another kiss. She’d been kissing him for less than a day and was already far too comfortable for her liking with it.

Thankfully, Yuffie left after that. The next day, Roxas and Naminé had to go their separate ways, since they needed to tell Yen Sid about the new target.

Elsewhere, Xehanort called the members of the True Organization together. “Gentlemen, please welcome the new number XIII: Sephiroth” with those words, a dark corridor opened, with Xigbar and Sephiroth stepping out.

“They may think that taking Xion was a strike against us, but I had already seen that possibility. This new member will serve us better than she ever would” Xehanort announced, then let out a laugh

From his pillar, Isa sighed. Surely, if that dolt could get Number 14 back, then he’d be next, and he knew for a fact that Xehanort would have to reach deep to replace him.

**Obtained Keychain: Living Memory**

**Obtained Keychain: Princess Guard**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're past the halfway point and I'm still only going off of vague ideas for the plot.
> 
> Next Time: Lea makes good on a promise he made


	8. The Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter where they go, He'll always be there to bring them back
> 
> Lea finally makes good on a promise he made long ago, and is rewarded for his efforts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M GONNA CHANGE YOU LIKE A REMIX
> 
> THEN I'LL RAISE YOU LIKE A PHOENIX  
> 

This was fine, Lea thought. Kairi  _ and _ Xion had insisted on coming with him on this foolhardy mission to bring Isa back, and well, he supposed he had a soft spot for short haired girls because he couldn't bring himself to turn either of them down.

What was less okay, was the sheer amount of resistance they ran into on the way. Lea had received a mysterious text with a request to meet up and for whatever reason he had decided to actually go along with the meetup

“Axel, what if this is a trap?” Xion asked, and in response he shrugged and summoned Flame Liberator confidently, thankful he was not the one driving

“If it’s a trap, we’ll get out asap.” He said.

“Lea, we’re  _ not _ taking a dark corridor.” Kairi argued.

“Well excuse me, princess, do you have a better idea?”

“Hmm, do you think we could use light to portal away?”

“You could, prolly. I doubt the light’ll listen to me”

“Not with that attitude. Just like, open your heart or something”

“Hard to open something I haven’t thought I had in over a decade.”

Their bickering went on for a little while longer, until they reached their destination. It was only then that Lea realized that whoever sent him that message wanted to meet him in Radiant Garden. Lea immediately had his suspicions, but kept them to himself.

His suspicions were, unfortunately confirmed when they arrived to see the restoration committee hard at work fighting off Berserker Nobodies, and some strange creatures that didn’t resemble any heartless or Nobodies that he’d ever seen, creatures that he hadn’t seen in over a decade. Unversed, and, to top it all off, he spotted the familiar blue hair of Isa, alongside a figure with a black helmet on.   
  


Kairi and Xion sprung into action quickly, leaving Lea to process just what was happening. He didn’t get long, because the minute Isa spotted him, he leapt toward him, swinging his claymore with a ferocity he hadn’t even seen on the man when he went berserk. Immediately, Flame Liberator appeared in his hand, just barely parrying the attack.

“Come on, Isa. I said I'd bring you all back, and I intend to keep that promise!” Lea said, but before he could summon a chakram, Isa immediately started swinging at him, not even flinching at the firaga’s flung at him. Well, that made sense, Fire was his best element, so no doubt Isa had some sort of charm to protect him from fire   
  
The logicality of the situation did not make it any less frustrating, as he was stuck dodging, occasionally summoning Assassin Nobodies to hold off the berserkers (Honestly, he was surprised they still listened to him, but figured by the fact that this Organization focused on heartless more that they were rusty)

Or, maybe they, like he, liked ignoring rules and decided to fight on the side of light.

Every once in a while, Lea’d glance in the direction of Kairi and Xion who were just barely holding off the guy in the mask, and, with every hit they landed more of those weird creatures emerged from him. Normally, he’d have intervened himself, but just going off of how both fights were going on appart, combining them into one was a stupid decision. 

Lea was used to stupid decisions. Hell, he’d probably made more stupid decisions than good ones at this point, but this? He couldn’t-no, he  _ wouldn’t _ risk Kairi and Xion’s lives just to make his life a little easier. That was how  _ Axel _ was, and, despite allowing Roxas and Xion to call him that, it wasn’t who he was anymore. Isa was his friend, and he’d bring him back even if it meant taking more pain than needed.

Isa swung, but this time, it was uncharacteristically sloppy for him. Their eyes met, and Isa mouthed 4 words “We need to talk”, then, suddenly, he corrected himself. Lea would only confirm it after the fact, but he had a hunch that Isa’s change in behavior was tied to whenever the masked man was watching them. Praying his hunch was right, he directed their battle out of view of the masked man, even sending his Nobodies to block the guy from following them

“So tell me, Isa, what’s this about?”   
  


“Is it so wrong for me to want to talk with the man who said he’d “bring me back”?” Isa spoke coldly, using Lea’s own words against him

As the fight slowed down, Lea gained the advantage and suddenly, a bright light shot from his keyblade, blasting the darkness out of his friend, causing the man to collapse into Lea’s arms. Lea didn’t get much time to take in the moment, because he was immediately struck with a firaga, but unlike most fire magic, this spell had a disgusting, painful sting to it. As he laid on the ground in pain, he saw the masked man approach him, and as he went for another swing, a black blur stepped in front of him, followed by a blinding flash in the blur’s hands.

Isa, despite his fatigue, had stepped in to defend him, and, from the looks of it, his claymore had become a keyblade.

The blade itself was long and purple, and the handle lacked the usual hilt, instead resembling the handle of the Lunatic claymore. The head of the keyblade, rather than resembling the claymore, took the form of a crescent moon, and the keychain was a full moon.

Taking full advantage of his opponent’s surprise, Isa disarmed him then knocked off his mask, revealing someone who resembled Sora with black hair. Isa looked down toward the boy and spoke firmly “I’d flee, if i were you. Whatever your master would do to you before likely won't even compare to what he’ll do to you for this failure.”

The boy scoffed, but stood up and opened a dark corridor “Don’t think sparing me means I’ll do a favor for you, asshole.”

“Trust me, Vanitas. You’d much rather owe me a favor than incur  _ his _ wrath” Isa retorted, and after that, Vanitas left, but not without giving the two of them the middle finger.

Lea wasn’t sure what happened after, since he lost consciousness shortly after seeing Kairi and Xion approach the alleyway (Well, mostly Kairi, since Xion backed off the minute she saw Isa)

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
He woke up with a start, with his entire body sore. Scanning his surroundings, he realized he was in the infirmary at the Mysterious Tower. Isa was sleeping in a bed across the room, and Xion was asleep in a chair by his bed, some small objects in her hand and next to him. It took him a couple minutes due to the fatigue and pain, but he realized that she’d gotten him seashells, like she’d gotten for Roxas when he went comatose, and like what Roxas did for her.

Evidently, his attempts to stand up woke the girl up, and she jolted awake, going to keep him steady. She helped him get to Isa, but she didn’t get very close to the blue haired man, and the look on her face clearly was clearly showing that she didn’t trust him, and had only gone with the plan to bring Isa back because he was Lea’s friend.

“Hey...Xion. It’ll be okay. Once Roxas gets back we’ll get ice cream, just the three of us.” Lea said, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. When she shot him a glance after staring at Isa, he added “Look...you don’t have to like him just yet, but can I at least ask you to trust him? For now?”

Xion took a deep breath, but nodded “Fine. You should get some more rest after you say what you need to him.” was all she said before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

“I told you I’d bring you back, Isa, and I kept that promise...” Lea said softly, holding his best friend’s hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was weird to write a chapter without Roxas or Naminé, but i needed to tie up this loose end, especially now that i'm fairly certain this series will be 5 fics rather than 3


	9. One Brings Shadow One brings light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Naminé arrive back at the Mysterious tower, then head to their next destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO FIIIIGHTS
> 
> WHO FLIESSSSSSS
> 
> WHO FAAAAAAAAAALLLLSSSS

The minute Roxas stepped off his Gummiship, he knew something was wrong. There was just a weird atmosphere that he didn’t like. Nobody was outside, which also struck him as odd, he figured he’d at least see Riku training outside, or hear Donald arguing with Sora.

“Nobody’s home, it seems…” he jokes, but his face wasn’t jovial, and in fact, he subconsciously summoned his keyblades to his hand, Naminé summoning her own as they stepped into the building.

He spotted Kairi and Riku asleep on the couch, and assumed based on the giant shoes on the floor that Sora had fallen off the couch. With that discovery, they dispelled their keyblades, heading to the hallway so they could speak a little louder

“Roxas, I think it’s just late” Naminé whispered, pulling him toward her bedroom door.

He gave her a kiss on the lips, then went to go back to his room, only stopping when she tugged on his hands and took him inside.

“It’ll be fine if we do this. I want to fall asleep with you, Roxas” she told him, once again tugging his arms, this time pulling him onto her bed. She gave him a short kiss, then pressed her face into his chest, the soft beating of his heart lulling her to sleep.

Roxas would have argued, but he couldn't exactly now, not with his girlfriend sleeping in his arms like this. He closed his eyes, and despite struggling a little to fall asleep, her soft breathing eventually did the trick.

They were awoken in the morning by a loud “HUH?!”

Naminé jolted awake, and in her rush to get up, ended up knocking Roxas off the bed. Roxas, ever the graceful one, fell right on his face

“Ughhh...this is what i get for sleeping in…” Roxas groaned, before eventually getting up, shooting his Somebody a nasty glare.

Sora, at least, had the decency to be apologetic. Unfortunately, that decency didn’t extend to giving them any more time alone, so with a sigh, Naminé got out of her bed.

“Roxas...why were you in...Naminé’s bed?”

“Gee, I wonder why we’d be sharing a bed” Roxas retorted sarcastically

Evidently, sarcasm was not the right answer, because if possible, Sora looked  _ more _ dumbfounded.

“Geez, you’re really going to make me spell it out, huh-” was all Roxas got to say before Naminé kissed him, both to get him to quiet down and to hopefully get the message across.

“Oooh! I see!” Sora said. Naminé was just about to ask him to leave, when, of course, that's when everyone decided to see what the ruckus was about

“Ughhh, we should have just slept on the ship, Nam” Roxas muttered

“The ship doesn’t have a big enough bed for two people to share, Roxas”

Lea poked his head in, opened his mouth as if to comment, but then decided against it, choosing to instead change the subject “Hey, Roxas, there’s something you should probably see before we proceed”

Well, Roxas didn’t like the sound of that, especially not going off of Sora’s expression. But fuck it, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He followed Lea into the infirmary, and, well, he didn’t quite know how to react.

Isa or Saix or whatever the fuck the man was calling himself now was sitting on one of the beds, with bandages on his chest, and a cup of tea in his hand.

“Axel, what is-”

“I might have somehow un-norted him? I kind of shot some sort of weird beam from my keyblade and Master Yen Sid couldn’t even sense a trace of Xehanort’s darkness in him” Lea said. It sounded half assed, but he didn’t really know himself, it was a heat of the moment thing.

“Well, as long as he doesn’t hurt Xion again, I don’t really care. Better our side than Xehanort’s. Speaking of-” Roxas paused as Sora came into the room

“Hey Sora, remember Sephiroth?”

At just the name, Sora’s face widened in horror. Roxas didn’t even need to continue, Sora,  _ miraculously _ figured it out.

“Oh, come on, why do you immediately pick up that Sephiroth is a nort but it takes a goddamn kiss for you to figure out Namine and I, who, I’ll remind you, slept in the same bed, are dating!?” Roxas mutters, then passes by Sora to make his report to Yen Sid.

Yen Sid was not happy to hear that news. He’d heard reports of Sephiroth, both from Cloud and Sora, and now Roxas. Even if it was an alternate Sephiroth, the fact that someone that powerful was now on their enemy’s side was concerning

What was more concerning, however, was how easily Xehanort seemingly gave up two of his members.

“While it is indeed good to see Isa returned to the side of light, it is troubling to know that Xehanort has been seeking new hosts.” He finally said, and Roxas nodded in agreement.

“I’m gonna go find Naminé and we’re going to back to training” Roxas said, doing a half assed bow and got ready to leave the room

As Roxas turned to leave, Yen Sid spoke again “Roxas, you must not let your feelings cloud your judgement. The most important thing is to ensure Xehanort’s plans don’t come to fruition”

Roxas rolled his eyes “Y’know, i’m sick and tired of being used like I’m a chess piece in a really confusing chess game where it’s perfectly legal to move your king back to the start and summon all your pieces, and once this stupid war is over I’m going to find a nice world and live there.” It was a weirdly specific metaphor, but somehow it was fitting. 

With those words, Roxas left the office and quickly found Naminé in her room, grabbing more art supplies. She’d been trying to draw for each world they visited, and because of that, she’d ran low, and none of the shops in other worlds had the selection she wanted

“Hey Nam, ready to go?” Roxas called from the doorway.

“Almost” came her response, and as she said that, she finished packing and got up to head outside with him.

Before they left, Xion, who had came to see them off, gave Roxas a hug, then Namine

“You keep him safe, you hear? Roxas is a headstrong idiot, but he’s our idiot” Xion said, to which Namine nodded and departed

Their destination was somewhere called Eorzea, and from the description on the computer, this world was split into fractions, although it seemed that they could only access two of them.

“Huh, that’s odd. Wonder what happened to this world” Roxas wondered out loud as their ship sped toward the destination. 

Namine looked at the computer then back to Roxas “It seems darkness and light happened. It says here the part of the world known as The First was hit by a flood of light causing it to be eternally day until the figure known as the Warrior of Darkness arrived and brought night once again.”

“Guess light is just as bad as darkness in excess, although I could have figured that even without learning of a light based apocalypse” Roxas commented.

Meanwhile, in the La Noscea housing district, The Mist…

A tall, horned figure clad in black armor walked out of his house, then approached one of the training dummies in the yard. Drawing his weapon, a black greatsword, he began swinging at it, occasionally adding in blasts of darkness from his blade

“Ah, I see you’ve got great darkness in you. Now, let me show you how to master it-” was all that he heard before he nearly took the head of the creepy old man who had appeared behind him, only being blocked by the large key shaped weapon that appeared in his hand, and even then, the warrior’s blade was winning

Jumping back, the man known as Master Xehanort stuck his hand forward, attempting to take hold of his attacker’s darkness. Then, as if struck by an unseen force, he was blasted back, his attempt to control the darkness failing entirely

“Who, no, what are you?” Xehanort asked, taken aback at having his power rejected.

“The name is Shion Noir, and if you’re trying to take a hold of my darkness, I’m afraid you won’t be able to. Then, as if to prove his point, he reached toward his chest, pulling a burst of darkness from it and holding it aloft. As if born from that, a figure made of darkness appeared next to Shion, holding a greatsword of his own.

Xehanort scarcely had time to react before the two jumped him, landing some hits despite the master’s best attempts to block them.

  
This...was  _ not _ his intention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Shion Noir Ref](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ee4WX86U4AAWOGa?format=jpg&name=large)
> 
> Also yes, that is a Praetorium reference at the end, ive gotten that from roulette so often i have that line embedded in my head


	10. I am shadow, i am the light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, trying to fight the savior of two worlds who has fought and felled gods is a terrible idea.
> 
> Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20, and Xehanort's eyes are not what they used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE ROAD THAT WE WALK
> 
> IS LOST IN THE FLOOD
> 
> HERE PROUD ANGELS BATHE IN
> 
> THEIR WAGES OF BLOOD
> 
> AT THIS, THE WORLD'S END, DO WE CAST OFF TOMORROW

This was not good. Not only was this Shion Noir seemingly capable of overtaking him in a fight, but it seemed that the darkness was not his only trick. In just a few minutes Xehanort had to deal with a rain of arrows, bladed chakrams, and now the man was bouncing all around the area they were fighting in, lance in hand. 

“I don’t know  _ what _ you are, but in my experience, creepy dudes who like to talk about darkness don’t usually approach me just to have a nice chat” Shion said, switching forms to the greatsword using mode.

Xehanort panted and gripped his keyblade. Then, he dismissed it, summoning a dark corridor. If this world had it’s defender, all he had to do was go to the  _ other _ part of the world.

Unfortunately, it seemed he’d underestimated both his opponent, and the way time worked between the parts of the World of Eorzea, and when he arrived in The First, he was met once more by Shion’s blade, but this time, it wasn’t just one warrior he had to contend with

Xehanort had, unfortunately, managed to bring himself into a fight with The Scions of the Seventh dawn.

“That’s the man you were referring to, right?” Spoke one of them, a tall, white haired woman with cat ears.

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Spoke some such nonsense about controlling my darkness, but he can’t be an Ascian, since, well, most of the Ascians we’ve fought have some sense of subtlety and this man is about as subtle as a punch from Lyse” Shion responded, drawing his blade, and as he did, his companions did so.

Xehanort was certainly not going to put up with that, so with a snap, he summoned companions of his own: Ansem, his heartless, and Xemnas, his Nobody. Shion could fight off one of him, but even with his considerable skill Xehanort doubted the man could take 3 of them.

Ansem charged into battle, quickly engaging the cat eared girl and the twins with pointy ears, while Xehanort himself fought Shion, the tall white haired man with a strange gunblade and a younger girl with two knives. Before Xemnas could get into the fight, however, he was struck from behind by two figures wielding keyblades, then stuck in the stomach by a third figure with a hammer.

Roxas and Naminé stood side by side with their new companion, easily pulling Xemnas away from both the Scions and the civilians who were gathering to see the famed Warrior of Darkness in action. Even the Ascian known as Elidibus stopped his own plan to watch this unfold.

Despite his desire to bring back Zodiark, he knew this new player would merely be a nuisance, so he kept his distance, using his guise as Ardbert to keep civilians away from danger.

“I see in your absence you’ve taken on a new form, Roxas” Xemnas said, gesturing to the fact that the boy now had catlike features, the effect of the glamour magic the fairies had put on his outfit.

“And I see you’re still wearing that ugly ass coat in this heat, Xemnas” Roxas retorted, striking his keyblades against Xemnas’s ethereal blades. Xemnas floated up and tried to fling a chunk of the surrounding architecture at the two keyblade wielders, but was quickly struck in the hand by the third person he was fighting, Gaia.

With a flash of light, Xemnas changed to his final form, the shockwave pushing the three back.

Elsewhere, Ansem was struggling. The female twin constantly backflipped out of his range and peppered him with spells, and any damage he did inflict was easily healed by her twin, while any attacks aimed toward his were gotten rid of by the small creature the boy had summoned

Shion, in Dragoon form lept backward, switching back to his Bard form as he landed “Line them up!” he called out, as he charged his level 3 limit break. It was going to be a pain in the ass to clean up the collateral damage, and he was sure they’d make him help out (Not that he  _ wouldn’t _ , but he’d prefer to volunteer himself rather than being roped into it like he was some sort of twelve damned errand boy rather than the savior of two worlds.)

Xehanort, realizing what was going to happen, charged Shion, but was blocked by the shield made by the other long haired man he’d ignored since he’d not seen him as a threat.

He supposed that at this point it was his mistake to not think anyone allied with this Warrior of Light and Darkness would be a nuisance. He’d have gone for the redhead, but his dark spells couldn’t even touch her, either because the man with the gunblade deflected them, or her own light got rid of them.

“Before you fire, permit me a question” Xehanort said, preparing himself to get away. He would not fall here, not before completing his goal. If this Shion Noir would not fight for him, then he’d simply have to overwhelm the man. This question would be a mere distraction to let him flood the world with Heartless.

“Eh, no.” The reply came first, then came the rain of arrows. Even with his magic protecting him, Xehanort couldn't avoid damage, mostly because he wasn’t expecting a no.

“I’ve heard villain monologues so many times I'm sure I could tell you how many times others have said any individual line.” Shion said, now standing above the wounded master.

“Go on, piss off, run away with your tail between your legs and swear vengeance or whatever. But let it be known that the next time you threaten my home, well-” Mid Sentence, he engulfed himself in his darkness and pointed his greatsword toward the man

“ **You won’t live to regret it.** ” as he spoke those words, Xehanort saw the faded outline of another figure behind the man, in the same pose, their eyes glowing an intimidating dark red

Xehanort opened a dark corridor and left, his other selves following behind. Once they’d left, Shion slashed through the portal, cutting it off from the realm of darkness the Organization used to travel, although he didn’t quite know that was what it did when he did it.

Roxas dropped to his knees, the adrenaline fading as the pain from the wounds inflicted on him caught up. “That was a neat trick, uhhh...i don’t think i got your name.”

Shion chuckled, switching back to his bard clothing “Shion. Shion Noir.”

“Funny, I know a girl named Xion, although I imagine her name isn’t spelt like yours”

“What a weird coincidence.” Shion blinked.

“Indeed. Anyway, my girlfriend and I are sort of...wandering between worlds right now. We’re supposed to be training, but it kind of just turned into a weird world tour. I don’t even know what the hell the lesson is.” Roxas said as Shion led them toward a place to sit down.

“Maybe he just wanted to make us connect?” Naminé suggested.

“If that was the plan he could’ve skipped the multiple near death experiences and trauma, 

“If this Xehanort guy is gathering people, maybe your teacher just wanted a counter? Plus, if making you keep his enemy on his toes made you bond that’s killing two birds with one stone.” Shion suggested, gesturing to a set of chairs for them to use.

“Still an odd choice of people to send out, especially when there’s stronger choices”

“What, would you rather pair up with Riku?”

“Nam, if Riku was my partner, I’d’ve ditched ages ago. At least you’re pleasant to look at, and you’ve got a nice butt”

Naminé, not expecting that, went to smack her boyfriend’s arm. Roxas, anticipating that, pulled her in by the fist and kissed her lips.

“Alright. I’ll leave you two to...that. I’m going to go fetch a healer and make sure you two get healed.

Roxas summoned Oblivion and pointed it in the air, casting curaga twice, once on himself, once on Naminé. It worked, but it didn’t quite feel like a curaga would on other worlds

“...Yeah, go grab a healer.” Roxas said, defeated.

  
_ Elsewhere, in the realm of darkness… _

Vanitas sat on a rock, gazing toward the water, and staring at the figure sitting on the beach. Why was it that when he fled from that Xehanort bullshit it just brought him back to her? How many times had he just gone to the realm of darkness to see her?   
  
Not because he liked her, no. Far from it. He simply enjoyed seeing her trapped in this hell. He was sure she knew he was there (anyone would after the amount of rocks he’d tossed toward the ocean) but for whatever reason she was ignoring him, and honestly, her quiet refusal to talk to him was also a hell of a lot better than Terra’s idiocy or Ventus’s...being Ventus.

Hearing the familiar sound of a heartless Swarm, he summoned a couple Red Hot Chilli unversed and opened a dark corridor, but not without giving them a simple order

“Keep her safe. It’d be a pain in the ass if she died and I didn’t have anyone to not talk to here.”

As he left, Aqua turned her head to see his back as he entered the portal.

When Vanitas re-emerged, he was back in Radiant Garden. He could’ve sworn that he’d directed the portal to Twilight Town so he could have at least skulked in the train tunnels, but  _ apparently _ the darkness decided to be a fucking dick.

Of course, taking him to the wrong destination wasn’t even the end of the dickery. Because that brown haired dumbass with his face was also there, and so was the Princess and the white haired boy that one of Xehanort’s creepy hosts looked like

_ Oh Joy. _

The princess and the white haired one summoned their keyblades, but for whatever reason, despite him being pure darkness (last he checked, which was a while ago, to be fair), the dumbass decided to try diplomacy

“What are you doing here?!” he demanded   
  
In response, Vanitas shrugged “Whatever I want.”

“Are you going to fight us?”

“Nah, That’d be a pain in the ass”

The white haired one glared at him and pointed his keyblade. “Did you come here to cause trouble?”

“Well  _ I  _ didn’t want to come here. I was gonna go to Twilight Town and kill heartless in the train tunnel and maybe spook some stupid people, but the portal I made took me here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go find somewhere to nap”

“I don’t believe you” With those words, the boy stepped forward, going into a battle stance similar to his own.

Vanitas rolled his eyes. “I don’t remember asking whether you believed me or not.”

The dumbass took this moment to preach to him, of course.

“You can be your own person, you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to side with Xehanort”

Most of what he said was stupid and shit he knew already, but at least the kid was trying to be nice. So, he gave the closest to a “nice” response he could

“Oh I haven’t even seen that old asshole in a while. But, now that you mention it, there is something I’ve been meaning to do.”

With those words, he returned back into the realm of darkness, completely ignoring the questions that the three shot at him.

He walked up to Aqua, who was sitting there, watching the ocean again.

“Hey there. Just for the record, there’s a better view like twenty feet that way”

He expected both the yelp and the swinging of her keyblade. What he didn’t expect was the expression on her face. Relief? Who the fuck would be relieved to see him?

“I see you’re here too...well, at least I know I’m not alone here” There was a hint of the usual disgust she felt toward him, but it felt weak. Vanitas suspected she was too close to breaking by the perpetual hell that the realm brought to be angry at him

“So, Why’re you here?”

“Well, a brown haired dumbass told me I could do whateeever i wanted. So I came here to bug you.” Vanitas replied with a smirk, finally getting the look of annoyance he wanted from her.

“Wait...do you mean-”

“Different dumbass, sadly. I haven’t seen good ol Terrakin Skywalker since the old asshole took his body.

The blank look she gave him told him that she did not get his reference. Sad.

“So, you say there’s a better view up there?” Aqua asked, and after he nodded in surprise, she started walking, dragging him by the arm

“Let’s enjoy that view, and you can fill me in on all I’ve missed, since clearly you’re not trying to kill me, and I could use the social interaction”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its the beginning of the end...
> 
> ([Gaia](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/e2/fa/f3e2fafe1dfb68f8056c190f0067d48d.jpg) was drawn by Tetsuya Nomura, so i thought it fitting she fight alongside Roxas and Naminé)
> 
> Vanitas and Aqua will return in: As goes Light, so goes Darkness.


	11. Home, Riding home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Naminé have a chat about where they want to go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My plan for this chapter changed entirely between when i started it and when i finished it lol

Completely oblivious to what was happening away from them, Roxas and Naminé sat in their Inn room at the Crystarium. They’d been looked over by several healers, and, aside from having to explain the mechanics of a replica body, they were allowed out, with the condition that they rested.  
  
Roxas had tried to argue, but Shion told him that it was not a rest for physical exhaustion, but for mental exhaustion. Even he needed a break once in a while, and he’d been fighting longer than both of them  
  
Roxas leaned on Naminé’s shoulder, kissing her cheek “So, nice room, huh?”

Naminé nodded, but before she could respond there was a blur of Yellow and Black and suddenly she was being held at knifepoint (Kunai point?) by Larxene of all people. Roxas figured this would happen, but was hoping they’d _at least_ get a night to themselves before dealing with more of the Organization’s bullshit. However, going off of the fact that the woman went for Naminé, he figured out that her intel was either incomplete or wrong.  
  
“Don’t get any funny ideas, brat, or the wit-” before Larxene could even finish her sentence, Naminé jammed her elbow into the woman’s stomach as hard as she could, causing her to drop her weapons. With her other former abuser disarmed, Naminé kicked her onto the ground, using an aero spell to blow one set of kunai out of reach.  
  
“The only person who can be described with a word that ends with -itch is _you_ , Larxene. Now, you can leave me and my boyfriend alone, or you can humiliate yourself further” Naminé said angrily, as Roxas just watched on in amusement  
  
It was about at this moment when Larxene realized just what she had gotten herself into, but she doubled down on her goal. Groaning, she reached for her kunai and screamed out in pain when Naminé stomped on her hand, kicking the other set back into the room and blocking off the entrance to the balcony so Larxene couldn’t get to them.  
  
“So, you have chosen death”  
  
At that point, the sounds of screaming alerted several guards, who rushed into the room after Roxas let them in. Spotting Larxene’s cloak, they took fighting stances, but Roxas stepped in front of them “She’s got this, make sure Shion knows whatever trick he used on the dark corridor wore off”  
  
The guards ran off and Larxene glared up at Naminé, groaning in pain and getting up “Nice keyblade, whose heart did yo-” before she could finish her sentence, she was hit in the stomach again  
  
“You don’t seem to get it, Larxene. This isn’t going to go how you want it.” Naminé growled, pointing her keyblade at the woman. “You’re not going to win this. Not this fight, and certainly not your master’s stupid war.”  
  
“Fuck...you!” Larxene spat   
  
“No thanks, i’ve got a boyfriend already. But hey, at least you and Marluxia can bond over failing to kill me.” Naminé shot back, slashing the woman across her chest  
  
Larxene, finally managing to stand up, stared at Roxas “I always knew you were just a stupid brat, but taking her side is really something else”  
  


“Talking a lot of shit for a woman who got killed by a dumbass like Sora aren’t ya?” Roxas retorted, not even looking up to meet her eyes. He wasn’t sure what exactly her strategy was, especially since she was outnumbered  
  
That Question was answered, when he heard the voice of Marluxia behind him  
  
“Oh, but my dear. I assure you, we _won’t_ fail. You may have gotten lucky against Master Xehanort, but us? We’ll **kill** you” The man spoke venomously, scythe in hand  
  
Roxas rolled his eyes, summoning his keyblades to his hands “Amazing, every word of what you just said was wrong”  
  
“Roxas, don’t even give him the satisfaction. He is not, and never will be worth the effort.” Naminé spoke plainly, not even turning to face Marluxia. The man glared at her, summoning his scythe. Then, the glare turned into a smug grin.  
  
“Do you really think Roxas would love a witch like yo-” before he could finish his sentence, Roxas punched him hard in the stomach.  
  
“Cut the shit, Marluxia. Just because your love life is about as vibrant as your rosegarden after Axel and I discovered where it was, doesn't mean you can gaslight her anymore.”  
  
“Wait, you burnt down my rosegarden?”  
  
“No, we put Demyx in charge of watering it and waited”  
  
“Somehow that’s far worse than if you had just destroyed it”  
  
“Believe me, if I’d known your real personality, i would’ve given the job to Xigbar”  
  
Marluxia made a move as if to attack, but was suddenly struck from behind by a fireball. Shion had returned, this time wielding a two handed staff.  
  
Pointing it toward his opponent, he muttered a short incantation and a circle formed under him, visually empowering his magic.  
  
“I’m going to give you a choice. You can either run away with your tail between your legs or, perhaps I could give you a fight you have no chance of winning. Either way, I’ll at least get a good workout” Shion stated flatly, delivering his ultimatum with a level of confidence that made even Marluxia hesitate. Sure, he could probably beat two brats given enough time, but this man carried himself with a level of confidence that told him he did not want to escalate.  
  
Of course, Larxene didn’t pick that up, jumping up and rushing Shion, blades held forward. The Warrior of Darkness easily parried it, struck her in the stomach and within a second shot a blast of ice that sent her flying  
  
“Tch, your mistake” In a flash, Marluxia was sent flying like Larxene and Shion, as he was readying himself to leap after them, said “You should get some rest, I’ll take care of these chumps”  
  
Naminé gripped Memory’s Embrace, when suddenly it was yanked in the opposite direction, opening a portal of pure, shining light.  
  
“So, do you think we should-” Before Roxas could finish the thought, they’d been dragged keyblade first into the portal  
  
When they emerged, they were at an unpleasantly familiar castle. The very sight of the white walls pissed Naminé off, while Roxas simply had a migraine  
  
“Oh, fuck this.” Namine muttered.


End file.
